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THE STAR OF 
GETTYSBURG 





“ The bullets of the skirmishers rained upon 

the advance/’ 


[Page 324I 




THE STAR OF 
GETTYSBURG 

A STORY OF SOUTHERN HIGH TIDE 


BY 

JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER 

AUTHOR OF “the SWORD OF ANTIETAM,” ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED BY 

CHARLES L. WRENN 


D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 
NEW YORK AND LONDON 
1915 



Copyright, 1915, by 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 


Printed in the United States of America 


FOREWORD 


‘‘The Star of Gettysburg’’ is a complete romance, 
but it is also one of the series dealing with the Civil 
War, beginning with “The Guns of Bull Run,” and 
continued successively through “The Guns of 
Shiloh,” “The Scouts of Stonewall,” and “The 
Sword of Antietam” to the present volunie. The 
story centers about the young Southern hero, Harry 
Kenton, and his friends. 



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CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Head of the Family 1 

II. Ahokse with Sherburne 22 

III. Jackson Moves 48 

IV. On the Rappahannock 74 

V. Fredericksburg 101 

VI. A Christmas Dinner 131 

VII. Jeb Stuart's Ball 152 

VIII. In the Wilderness 188 

IX. Chancellorsville 213 

X. The Northern March 264 

XI. The Cavalry Combat 285 

XII. The Zenith of the South 315 

XIII. Gettysburg 338 


I 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACING 

PAGE 

“The bullets of the skirmishers rained upon the 
advance ” Frontispiece 

“ The rapid thudding of hoofs behind him beat on 

his ears . . . like thunder ’’ 42 

“More men and horses fell and a scene of wild 

confusion followed ” 209 

“ Harry saw a man lean from his horse and slash 

at him with a sabre ’’ 290 ^ 



THE 


STAR OF GETTYSBURG 

CHAPTER I 

THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 

A YOUTH sat upon a log by a clear stream 
in the Valley of Virginia, mending clothes. 
He showed skill and rapidity in his homely 
task. A shining needle darted in and out of the gray 
cloth, and the rent that had seemed hopeless was be- 
ing closed up with neatness and precision. No one 
derided him because he was engaged upon a task that 
was usually performed by women. The Army of 
Northern Virginia did its own sewing. 

“Will the seam show much, Arthur?” asked Harry 
Kenton, who lay luxuriously upon the leafy ground 
beside the log. 

“Very little when I finish,” replied St. Clair, ex- 
amining his work with a critical eye. “Of course I 
can’t pass the uniform off as wholly new. It’s been 
a long time since I’ve seen a new one in our army, 
but it will be a lot above the average.” 

“I admire your care of your clothes, Arthur, even 
if I can’t quite imitate it. I’ve concluded that good 
clothes give a certain amount of moral courage, and 
if you get killed you make a much more decent body.” 


I 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 

‘'But Arthur St. Clair, of Charleston, sir, has no 
intention of getting killed,” said Happy Tom Lang- 
don, who was also resting upon the earth. "He means 
after this war is over to go back to his native city, 
buy the most magnificent uniforms that were ever 
made, and tell the girls how Lee and Jackson turned 
to him for advice at the crisis of every great battle.” 

"We surely needed wisdom and everything else we 
could get at Anfietam — leadership, tenacity and the 
willingness to die,” said Dalton, the sober young Vir- 
ginia Presbyterian. "Boys, we were in the deepest of 
holes there, and we had to lift ourselves out almost by 
our own boot straps.” 

Harry’s face clouded. The field of Antietam often 
returned to him, almost as real and vivid as on that 
terrible day, when the dead lay heaped in masses 
around the Dunkard church and the Southern army 
called forth every ounce of courage and endurance 
for its very salvation. 

"Antietam is a month away,” he said, "and I still 
shudder at the name. We didn’t think McClellan 
would come up and attack Lee while Jackson was 
away at Harper’s Ferry, but he did. How did it 
happen? How did he know that our army was 
divided ?” 

"I’ve heard a strange story,” said Dalton. "It’s 
come through some Union prisoners we’ve taken. 
They say that McClellan found a copy of Generaf 
Lee’s orders in Frederick, and learned from them ex- 
actly where all our troops were and what they in-' 
tended. Then, of course, he attacked.” 


2 


THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 


“A strange tale, as you say, a most extraordi- 
nary chance,” said Harry. ‘‘Do you think it’s true, 
George ?” 

“IVe no doubt it fell out that way. The same re- 
port comes from other sources.” 

“At any rate,” said Happy Tom, “it gave us a 
chance to show how less than fifty thousand men 
could stand off nearly ninety thousand. Besides, we 
didn’t lose any ground. We went over into Mary- 
land to give the Marylanders a chance to rise for the 
South. They didn’t rise worth a cent. I suppose we 
didn’t get more than five hundred volunteers in that 
state. ‘The despot’s heel is on thy shore, Maryland, 
my Maryland,’ and it can stay on thy shore, Maryland, 
my Maryland, if that’s the way you treat us. I feel 
a lot more at home here in Virginia.” 

“It is fine,” said Harry, stirring comfortably on 
the leaves and looking down 'at the clear stream of 
the Opequon. One can’t fight all the time. I feel as 
if I had been in a thousand battles, and two or 
three months of the year are left. It’s fine to lie 
here by the water, and breathe pure air instead of 
dust.” 

“I’ve heard that every man eats a peck of dirt in 
the course of his life,” said Happy Tom, “but I know 
that I’ve already beat the measure a dozen times over. 
Why, I took in a bushel at least at the Second Ma- 
« nassas, but I still live, and here I am, surveying this 
peaceful domestic scene. Arthur is mending his best 
uniform, Harry stretched on the leaves is resting and 
dreaming dreams, George is wondering how he will 


3 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


get a new pair of shoes for the season, and the army 
is doing its autumn washing/’ 

Harry glanced up and down the stream, and he 
smiled at the homely sight. Thousands of soldiers 
were washing their ragged clothes in the little river 
and the equally ragged clothes of many others were 
drying on the banks or on the bushes. The sun- 
browned lads who skylarked along the shores or in 
the water, playing pranks on one another, bore lit- 
tle resemblance to those who had charged so fiercely 
and so often into the mouths of the cannon at 
Antietam. 

Harry marvelled at them and at himself. It seemed 
scarcely possible that human nature could rush to such 
violent extremes within so short a space. But youth 
conquered all. There was very little gloom in this 
great army which disported itself in the water or in 
the shade. Thousands of wounded, still pale, but 
with returning strength, lay on the October leaves and 
looked forward to the day when they could join their 
comrades in either games or war. 

Harry himself had suffered for a while from a 
great exhaustion. He had been terribly anxious, too, 
about his father, but a letter written just after the 
battle of Perry ville, and coming through with un- 
usual promptness by the way of Chattanooga and 
Richmond, had arrived the day before, informing him 
of Colonel Kenton’s safety. In this letter his father 
had spoken of his meeting with Dick Mason in his 
home at Pendleton, and that also contributed to his 
new lightness of heart. Dick was not a brother, but 


4 


THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 


he stood in the* place of one, and it was good to hear 
again of him. 

The sounds of shouts and laughter far up and down 
the Opequon became steady and soothing. The Oc- 
tober winds blowing gently were crisp and fresh, but 
not too cold. The four boys ceased talking and Harry 
on his bed of leaves became drowsy. The forests on 
the far hills and mountains burned in vivid reds and 
yellows and browns, painted by the master hand of 
autumn. Harry heard a bird singing on a bough 
among red leaves directly over his head, and the note 
was piercingly sweet to ears used so long to the roar 
of cannon and rifles. 

His drowsy lids sank lower and he would have gone 
to sleep had he not been roused by a shouting farther 
down the little river. His eyes opened wide and he 
sat up. 

“What is it, George?’’ he said to Dalton. 

“I don’t know, but here comes Captain Sherburne, 
and I’ll ask him.” 

Sherburne was approaching with long strides, his 
face flushed with enthusiasm. 

“What is it. Captain?” asked Harry. “What are 
the boys shouting about?” 

“The news has just reached them that Old Jack 
has been made a lieutenant-general. General Lee 
asked the government to divide his army into two 
corps, with Old Jack in command of one and Long- 
street in charge of the other. The government has 
seen fit to do what General Lee advises it to do, and 
we are now the Second Army Corps, two thousand 


5 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


officers, twenty-five thousand men and one hundred 
and thirty guns, commanded by Lieutenant-General 
Thomas Jonathan Jackson, better known to his enemy 
as ‘Stonewall’ Jackson and to his men as ‘Old Jack/ ” 

“Splendid!” exclaimed Harry. “Never was a pro- 
motion better earned I” 

“And so say we all of us,” said Happy Tom. “But 
just a moment. Captain. What is the news about 
me?” 

“About you, Tom?” 

“Yes, about me? Didn’t I win the victory at the 
Second Manassas? Didn’t I save the army at Antie- 
tam? Am I promoted to be a colonel or is it merely 
a lieutenant-colonel ?” 

“I’m sorry, Tom,” replied Sherburne with great 
gravity, “but there is no mention of your promotion. 
I know it’s an oversight, and we’ll join in a general 
petition to Richmond that you be made a lieutenant- 
colonel at the very least.” 

“Oh, never mind. If it has to be done through 
the begging of my friends I decline the honor. I 
don’t know that I’d care to be any kind of a colonel, 
anyhow. I’d have to pass the boys here, and maybe 
I’d have to command ’em, which would make ’em feel 
bad. Old Jack himself might become jealous of me. 
I guess I’m satisfied as I am.” 

“I like the modesty of the South Carolinians, Tom,” 
said Dalton. “There’s a story going the rounds that 
you South Carolinians made the war and that we Vir- 
ginians have got to fight it.” 

“There may be such a story. It seems to me that 


6 


THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 


it was whispered to me once, but the internal evidence 
shows that it was invented by a Virginian. Haven't 
I come up here and shed some of my blood and more 
of my perspiration to save the sacred soil of the 
Mother of Presidents from invasion? And didn’t I 
bring with me Arthur St. Clair, the best dressed man 
in Charleston, for the Yankees to shoot at? Hello, 
what’s that? This is a day of events!” 

Hoots, cat-calls, and derisive yells arose along a 
long line. A trim young officer on a fine bay horse 
was riding down a path beside the Opequo'n. He was 
as beautifully dressed as St. Clair at his best. His 
hands were encased in long white buckskin gloves, 
and long brown mustaches curled beautifully up until 
they touched either cheek. It was he, this Beau Brum- 
mel of the Southern army, who had attracted the 
attention of irreverent youth. From the shelter of 
trees and bushes came a chorus of cries : 

‘‘Take them mice out o’ your mouth! I know 
they’re there, ’cause I see their tails stickin’ out!” 

“What kind o’ hair oil do you use? I know your 
head’s oiled, or it wouldn’t shine so.” 

“Be sure you keep your gloves on or the sun’ll tan 
your hands!” 

“Oh, my, it’s mother’s pretty boy, goin’ to see his 
best girl !” 

The young officer flushed crimson through his 
brown, but he knew it was no use to resent the words 
of his tormentors, and he rode steadily on, looking 
straight before him. 

“That’s Caswell, a Georgian, of Longstreet’s corps,” 

7 


THE STAK OF GETTYSBURG 


said Sherburne; ''a good soldier and one of the bravest 
men I ever saw/’ 

‘‘Which proves,” said St. Clair, in a tone of convic- 
tion, “that clothes do help make the man.” 

Caswell passed out of sight, pursued by derisive 
comment, but his place was taken quickly by a new 
victim. A man of middle age, in civilian clothes, came 
riding slowly on a fat horse. He was a well-known 
sutler, named Williams and the wild lads did not con- 
fine themselves to hidden cries, but rushed from the 
shelter of trees and bushes, and held up worn articles 
of apparel, shouting in his ears: 

“Hey, Mr. Williams ! The soles of these shoes are 
made of paper, not leather. I bought leather, not 
paper.” 

“What’s the price of blue silk neckties? I’ve got 
a Yankee sweetheart in New York, and I want to look 
well when our conquering army marches into that 
city !” 

“A pair of blankets for me, Mr. Williams, to be 
paid for when we loot the Yankee treasury!” 

But Williams was not disconcerted. He was used 
to such badinage. He spread out his large hands 
soothingly. 

“Boys,” he said, “those shoes wore out so fast be- 
cause you chased the Yankees so hard. They were 
made for walking, not for foot races. Why do you 
want to buy blankets on time when you can get them 
more cheaply by capturing them from the enemy?” 

His answers pleased them, and some one called for 
three cheers for Williams, which were given with a 


8 


THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 


will, and he rode on, unmolested. But in a few min- 
utes another and greater roar arose. Now it was 
swelling, continuous, and there was in it no note what- 
ever of criticism or derision. It was made up wholly 
of affection and admiration, and it rolled in unceas- 
ing volume along the stream and through the forest. 

The four lads and Sherburne sprang to their feet, 
shading their eyes with their hands as they looked. 

“By the great Jupiter!” exclaimed Sherburne, “it’s 
Old Jack himself in a new uniform on Little Sorrel ! 
The boys, I imagine, have heard that he’s been made 
lieutenant-general. ” 

“I knew that nothing could stir up the corps this 
way except Old Jack or a rabbit,” said Happy Tom, 
as he sprang to his feet — he meant no disrespect to 
his commander, as thousands would give chase to a 
rabbit when it happened to be roused out of the bushes. 

“Thunderation ! What a change!” exclaimed St. 
Clair, as he ran with the others to the edge of the 
road to see Stonewall Jackson, the victor of twenty 
battles, go past in a uniform that at first had almost 
disguised him from his amazed soldiers. Little Sor- 
rel was galloping. He had learned to do so whenever 
the soldiers cheered his rider. Applause always em- 
barrassed Jackson, and Little Sorrel, of his own voli- 
tion, now obeyed his wish to get by it as soon as 
possible. 

“What splendor !” exclaimed Harry. “Did you 
ever see Old Jack looking like this before?” 

“Never! Never!” they exclaimed in chorus. 

Stonewall Jackson wore a magnificent uniform of 


9 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


the richest gray, with heavy gold lace wherever gold 
lace could be used, and massive epaulets of gold. A 
thick gold cord tied in a bow in front surrounded the 
fine gray hat, and never did a famous general look 
more embarrassed as the faithful horse took him along 
at an easy gallop. 

All through the woods spread the word that Stone- 
wall Jackson was riding by arrayed in plumage like 
that of the dandy, Jeb Stuart him.self. It was won- 
derful, miraculous, but it was true, and the cheers 
rolled continuously, like those of troops about to go 
into battle and confident of victory. 

Harry saw clearly that his commander was terribly 
abashed. Blushes showed through the tan of his 
cheeks, and the soldiers, who would not have dared 
to disobey a single word of his on the battlefield, now 
ran joyously among the woods and bushes. Harry 
and the other three lads, being on Jackson’s staff, hid 
discreetly behind the log as he passed, but they heard 
the thunder of the cheering following him down the 
road. 

It was in truth a most singular scene. These were 
citizen soldiers, welded into a terrible machine by 
battle after battle and the genius of a great leader, 
but with their youth they retained their personality 
and independence. Affection was strongly mingled 
with their admiration for Jackson. He was the head 
of the family, and they felt free to cheer their usually 
dingy hero as he rode abroad in his magnificent new 
uniform. 

^T think we’d better cut across the woods to head- 


10 


THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 


quarters/' said Harry. ‘T want to see the arrival of 
Old Jack, and I’d wager any of you five cents to a 
cent that he’ll never wear that uniform again. Why, 
he doesn’t look natural in it at all.” 

'1 won’t take your bet,” said Happy Tom, “because 
I’m thinking just as you do. Arthur, here, would look 
all right in it — he needs clothes to hold him up, any- 
way, but it doesn’t suit Old Jack.” 

Their short cut took them through the woods to 
the general’s quarters in time to see him arrive 
and spring hurriedly from Little Sorrel. The man 
whose name was a very synonym of victorious war 
was still embarrassed and blushing, and as Harry 
followed him into the tent he took off the gorgeous 
uniform and hat and handed them to his young 
aide. Then as he put on his usual dingy gray, he 
said to an officer who had brought him the new 
clothes : 

“Give my thanks to General Stuart, Major, but tell 
him that the uniform is far too magnificent for me. 
I value the gift, however, and shall keep it in recol- 
lection of him.” 

The major and Harry took the uniform and, 
smoothing it carefully, laid it away. But Harry, 
having further leave of absence went forth and an- 
swered many questions. Was the general going to 
wear that uniform all the time? Would he ride into 
battle clothed in it? When Harry replied that, in his 
belief, he would never put it on again, the young sol- 
diers seemed to feel a kind of relief. The head of 
the family was not going to be too splendid for them. 


II 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Yet the event had heightened their spirits, already 
high, and they began to sing a favorite song : 

‘Uome, stack arms, men, pile on the rails; 

Stir up the camp fires bright. 

No matter if the canteen fails, 

We’ll make a roaring night. 

Here Shenandoah brawls along, 

There lofty Blue Ridge echoes strong 
To swell the brigade’s rousing song 
Of Stonewall Jackson’s way.” 

“It’s a bully song!” exclaimed Happy Tom, who 
had a deep and thunderous voice. Then snatching 
up a long stick he began to wave it as a baton, and 
the others, instinctively following their leader, roared 
it forth, more than ten thousand strong. 

Langdon in his glory led his cohorts in a vast circle 
around Jackson’s quarters, and the mighty chorus 
thundered through verse after verse, until they closed 
in a lower tone with the lines : 

“Silence ! ground arms ! kneel all ! caps off! 

Old Blue Light’s going to pray ; 

Strangle the fool that dares to scoff ! 

Attention! it’s his way! 

Appealing from his native sod 
In forma pauperis to God 
Lay bare thine arm — stretch forth thy rod. 
Amen! That’s Stonewall Jackson’s way.’^ 

Then Happy Tom threw down his stick and the 
men dispersed to their quarters. But they had paid 


12 


THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 


Stonewall Jackson a tribute that few generals ever 
received. 

“You’re a wild and foolish fellow, Tom Langdon,” 
said Dalton, “but I like you for this thing you’ve 
done.” 

“You’ll notice that Old Jack never appeared while 
we were singing,” said Langdon. “I don’t see why 
a man should be so modest and bashful. Why, if I’d 
done half what he’s done I’d ride the tallest horse in 
the country; I’d have one of those Mexican saddles 
of yellow leather studded with large golden-headed 
nails ; the stirrups would be of gold and the bridle bit- 
would be gold, too. I’d have twelve uniforms all 
covered with gold lace, and I’d have hats with gold- 
colored ostrich plumes waving in them after the fash- 
ion of Jeb Stuart.” 

“Don’t you worry, Tom,” said St. Clair. “You’ll 
never have any excuse for wearing so much gold. 
Have you heard what one of the boys said after the 
chaplain preached the sermon to us last Sunday about 
leading the children of Israel forty years through the 
wilderness ?” 

“No, George; what was it?” 

“Forty years going through the wilderness,” he 
growled. “Why, Stonewall Jackson would have 
double-quicked ’em through in three days, and on 
half rations, too.” 

“And so he would,” exclaimed Harry with empha- 
sis. The great affection and admiration in which his 
troops held Jackson began to be tinged with some- 
thing that bordered upon superstition. They regarded 


13 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


his mental powers, his intuition, judgment and quick- 
ness as something almost supernatural. His great 
flanking movement at the Second Manassas, and his 
arrival in time to save the army at Antietam, inspired 
them with awe for a man who could do such things. 
They had long since ceased to grumble when he under- 
took one of his tremendous marches, and they never 
asked why they were sent to do a thing — they had 
absolute confidence in the one who sent them to 
do it. 

The great excitement of Jackson in his new uni- 
form passed and the boys resumed their luxurious 
quarters on the leaves beside the Opequon. Sherburne, 
who had left them a while, returned, riding a splendid 
bay horse, which he tethered to a bush before rejoin- 
ing them. 

“That’s not the horse I saw you riding at Antietam, 
Captain,” said Langdon. “I counted that fellow’s 
ribs, and none show in this one. It’s no business of 
mine, but I want to know where you got that fine 
brute.” 

“No, it’s none of your business, Tom,” replied 
Sherburne, as he settled himself comfortably, “you 
haven’t anything in the world to do with it, but that’s 
no reason why you shouldn’t ask and I shouldn’t 
answer.” 

“Drop the long-winded preliminaries, then, and go 
ahead.” 

'T got him on a wild ride with the general. General 
Stuart. What a cavalryman! I don’t believe there 
was ever such another glutton for adventure and bat- 


14 


THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 


tie. General Lee wasn’t just sure what McClellan 
meant to do, and he ordered General Stuart to pick 
his men and go see. 

“The general took six hundred of us, and four light 
guns, and we crossed the Potomac at dawn. Then 
we rode straight toward the north, exchanging shots 
here and there with Northern pickets. We went 
across Maryland and clear up into Pennsylvania, a 
hundred miles it must have been, I think, and at a 
town called Chambersburg we got a great supply of 
Yankee stores, including five hundred horses, which 
came in mighty handy, I can tell you. I got Bucepha- 
lus there. He’s a fine steed, too, I can tell you. He 
was intended to carry some fat Pennsylvania colonel 
or major, and instead he has me for a rider, a thinner 
and consequently a lighter man. I haven’t heard him 
expressing any sorrow over the exchange.” 

“What did you do after you got the remounts?” 
asked Harry. 

“We began to curve then. We passed a town called 
Gettysburg, and we went squarely behind the Union 
army. Mountainous and hilly country up there, but 
good and cultivated beautifully. Those Pennsylvania 
Germans, Harry, beat us all hollow at farming. I’m 
beginning to think that slaves are not worth owning. 
They ruin our land.” 

“Which may be so,” interrupted Langdon, “but 
we’re not the kind of people to give them up because 
a lot of other people order us to do it.” 

“Shut up, Tom,” exclaimed Harry. “Let the cap- 
tain go on with his story.” 


15 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


'We went on around the Union rear, rode another 
hundred miles after leaving Chambersburg, coming 
to a place called Hyattstown, near which we cut 
across McClellan’s communications with Washington. 
Things grew warm, as the Yankees, learning that we 
were in the country, began to assemble in great force. 
They tried to prevent our crossing the Monocacy 
River, and we had a sharp fight, but we drove them 
off before they could get up a big enough force to 
hold us. Then we came on, forded the Potomac and 
got back after having made an entire circuit of Mc- 
Clellan’s army.” 

"What a ride !” exclaimed St. Clair, his eyes 
sparkling. "I wish I had been with you. It would 
have been something to talk about.” 

"We did stir ’em up,” said Sherburne with par- 
donable pride, "and we got a lot of information, too, 
some of it beyond price. We’ve learned that there 
will be no more attempts on Richmond by sea. The 
Yankee armies will come across Virginia soil or not 
at all.” 

"I imagine McClellan won’t be in any hurry to 
cross the Potomac,” said Harry. "He certainly got 
us into a hot corner at Antietam, and if the reports 
are true he had plenty of time to come up and wipe 
out General Lee’s whole force, while Old Jack was 
tied up at Harper’s Ferry. They feel that way about 
McClellan in the North, too. I’ve got an old Phila- 
delphia newspaper and I’ll read to you part of a poem 
that’s reprinted in it. The poem is called 'Tardy 
George.’ Listen : 


i6 


THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 


"What are you waiting for, George, I pray? 

To scour your cross belts with fresh pipe clay? 

To burnish your buttons, to brighten your guns? 

Or wait for May-day, and warm spring suns ? 

Are you blowing your fingers because they’re cold, 

Or catching your breath ere you take a hold? 

Is the mud knee-deep in valley and gorge? 

What are you waiting for. Tardy George?” 

""That’s pretty bitter,” said Harry, ""but it must 
have been written before the Seven Days. You notice 
what the author says about waiting for May-day.” 

""Likely enough you’re right, but it applies just the 
same or they wouldn’t be reprinting it in their news- 
papers. Some of them claim a victory over us at An- 
tietam, and nearly all are angry at McClellan because 
he wouldn’t follow us into Virginia. They think he 
ought to have crossed the Potomac after us and 
smashed us.” 

""He might have got smashed himself.” 

""Which people are likely to debate all through this 
generation and the next. But they’re bitter against 
McClellan, although he’s done better than any other 
Yankee general in the east. Just listen to this verse, 
will you? 

""Suppose for a moment, George, my friend. 

Just for a moment you condescend 
To use the means that are in your hands 
The eager muskets and guns and brands ; 

Take one bold step on the Southern sod, 

And leave the issue to watchful God ! 

For now the nation raises its gorge. 

Waiting and watching you. Tardy George.” 


17 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Harry carefully folded up the paper and put it 
back in his pocket. The contrast between these verses 
and the song that he had just heard ten thousand men 
sing, as they whirled around Stonewall Jackson’s 
headquarters, impressed him deeply. 

‘Tt’s hard, boys,” he said, ‘Tor a general to see 
things like this printed about him, even if he should 
deserve them. McClellan, so all the prisoners say, 
has the confidence of his men. They believe that he 
can win.” 

“And we know that we can and do win !” exclaimed 
Langdon. “We’ve got the soldiers and the generals, 
too. Hurrah for Bobby Lee, and Stonewall Jackson 
and Jim Longstreet, and old Jubal Early, and A. P. 
Hill and D. H. Hill and Jeb Stuart and — and ” 

“And for Happy Tom Langdon, the greatest soldier 
and general of them all,” interrupted Dalton. 

“That’s true,” said Langdon, “only people don’t 
know it yet. Now, by the great horn spoon, what is 
that ? What a day this is !” 

A great uproar had begun suddenly, and, as if by 
magic, hundreds of men had risen from the ground 
and were running about like mad creatures. But the 
boys knew that they were not mad. They understood 
in an instant what it was all about as they heard in- 
numerable voices crying, “Rabbit ! Rabbit !” 

Rabbits were numerous in the underbrush and they 
made good stew. The soldiers often surrounded them 
and caught them with their bare hands, but they dared 
not shoot at them, as, owing to the number of pur- 
suers, somebody would certainly have been hurt. 


i8 


THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 


Harry and his comrades instantly joined in the 
chase, which led into the deep woods. The rabbit, 
frightened into unusual speed by the shouts, darted 
into the thick brush and escaped them all. 

‘Toor little rascal,’’ said Harry, ‘T’m glad he got 
away after all. What good would one rabbit be to 
an army corps of twenty-five thousand men ?” 

As they were returning to their place on the creek 
bank an orderly came for Harry, and he was sum- 
moned to the tent of Jackson. It was a large tent 
spread in the shade of an old oak, and Harry found 
that Captain Sherburne had already preceded him 
there. All signs of splendor were hidden completely. 
Jackson once more wore with ease his dingy old gray 
clothes, but the skin of his brow was drawn into a 
tiny knot in the center, as if he were concentrating 
thought with his utmost power. 

‘‘Sit down, Mr. Kenton,” he said kindly. “I’ve 
already been speaking to Captain Sherburne and Fll 
tell you now what I want. General McClellan’s army 
is still beyond the Potomac. As nearly as our spies 
can estimate it has, present and fit for duty, one hun- 
dred and thirty-five thousand men and three hundred 
and fifty cannon. McClellan, as we well know, is 
always overcautious and overestimates our numbers, 
but public opinion in the North will force him to 
action. They^^claim there that Antietam was a victory 
for them, and he will surely invade Virginia again. 
I shall send Captain Sherburne and his troop to find 
out wl^ere and when, and you are to go with him as 
my aijjJe aijd personal representative.” 


THE STAR OE GETTYSBURG 


“Thanks, sir,” said Harry. 

“When can you start?” 

“Within five minutes.” 

“Good. 'I was going to allow you ten, but it’s bet- 
ter to take only five. Captain Sherburne, you have 
your instructions already. Now go, and bear in mind, 
both of you, that you are to bring back what you are 
sent to get, no matter what the cost. Prepare no 
excuses.” 

There was a stern and ominous ring in his last 
words, and Harry and Sherburne, saluting, retired 
with all speed. Harry ran to his own tent, snatched up 
his arms and blanket-roll, saddled and bridled his 
horse, and well within five minutes was riding* by the 
side of Captain Sherburne. He shouted to St. Clair, 
who had run forward in amazement: 

“Gone on a mission for Old Jack. Will be back — 
some time.” 

The cavalry troop of six hundred splendid men, 
led by Sherburne, one of the finest of the younger 
leaders, trotted fast through the oak forest. They 
were fully refreshed and they were glad of action. 
The great heats of that famous summer, unusually 
hot alike in both east and west, were gone, and now 
the cool, crisp breezes of autumn blew in their faces. 

“Have you heard at what point on the Potomac the 
Union army is gathered?” Harry asked. 

“At a village called Berlin, so our spies say. You 
know McClellan really has some high qualities. We 
found a heavy reconnoitering force of cavalry not far 
in our front two or three days ago, and we did not 


20 


THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY 


know what it meant, but General Jackson now has 
an idea that McClellan wanted to find out whether we 
were near enough to the Potomac to dispute his 
passage/’ 

“We are not.” 

“No, we’re not, and I don’t suppose General Lee 
and General Jackson wish to keep him on the other 
side. But, at any rate, we’re sent to find out whether 
he is crossing.” 

“And we’ll see.” 

“We surely will.” 


CHAPTER II 

AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 

H arry was glad that General Jackson had 
detailed him for this task. He missed his 
comrades of the staff, but Sherburne was a 
host in himself, and he was greatly attached to him. 
He rode a good horse and there was pleasure in gal- 
loping with these men over the rolling country, and 
breathing the crisp and vital air of autumn. 

They soon left the forest, and rode along a narrow 
road between fields. Their spirits rose continually. 
It was a singular fact that the Army of Northern 
Virginia was not depressed by Antietam. It had been 
a bitter disappointment to the Southern people, who 
expected to see Lee take Baltimore and Philadelphia, 
but the army itself was full of pride over its achieve- 
ment in beating off numbers so much superior. 

It was for these reasons that Sherburne and those 
who rode with him felt pride and elation. They had 
seen the ranks of the army fill up again. Lee had 
retreated across the Potomac after Antietam with less 
than forty thousand men. Now he had more than 
seventy thousand, and Sherburne and Harry felt cer- 


22 


AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


tain that instead of waiting to be attacked by McClel- 
lan he himself would go forth to attack. 

Harry had seldom seen a day more beautiful. That 
long hot, dry summer had been followed by a fine 
autumn, the most glorious of all seasons in North 
America, when the air has snap and life enough in it 
to make the old young again. 

He was familiar now with the rolling country into 
which they rode after leaving the forest. Off in one 
direction lay the fields on which they had fought the 
First and Second Manassas, and off in another, be- 
hind the loom of the blue mountains, he had ridden 
with Stonewall Jackson on that marvelous campaign 
which seemed to Harry without an equal. 

But the land about them was deserted now. There 
were no harvests in the fields. No smoke rose from 
the deserted farm houses. This soil had been trodden 
over and over again by great armies, and it would be 
a long time before it called again for the plough. The 
stone fences stood, as solid as ever, but those of wood 
had been used for fuel by the soldiers. 

They watered their horses at a clear creek, and 
then Sherburne and Harry, from the summit of a low 
hill, scanned the country with their glasses. 

They saw no human being. There was the rolling 
country, brown now with autumn, and the clear, cool 
streams flowing through almost every valley, but so 
far as man was concerned the scene was one of 
desolation. 

^T should think that McClellan would have mounted 
scouts some distance this side of the Potomac,'’ said 


23 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Sherburne. ‘‘Certainly, if he were making the cross- 
ing, as our reports say, he would send them ahead.” 

“We’re sure to strike ’em before we reach the 
river,” said Harry. 

“I think with you that we’ll see ’em, but it’s our 
business to avoid ’em. We’re sent forth to see and 
not to fight. But if General Stuart could ride away 
up into Pennsylvania, make a complete circuit around 
the Union army and come back without loss, then we 
ought to be successful with our own task, which is 
an easier one.” 

Harry smiled. 

“I never knew you to fail. Captain. I consider 
your task as done already.” 

“Thanks, Harry. You’re a noble optimist. If we 
fail, it will not be for lack of trying. Forward, my 
lads, and we’ll reach the Potomac some time to-night.” 

They rode on through the same silence and desola- 
tion. They had no doubt that eyes watched them 
from groves and fence corners, keeping cautiously out 
of the way, because it was sometimes difficult now to 
tell Federals from Confederates. But it did not mat- 
ter to Sherburne. He kept a straight course for the 
Potomac, at least half of his men knowing thoroughly 
every foot of the way. 

“What time can we reach the river and the place 
at which they say McClellan is going to cross ?” asked 
Harry. 

“By midnight anyway,” replied Sherburne. “Of 
course, we’ll have to slow down as we draw near, or 
we may run square into an ambush. Do you see that 


24 


AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


grove about two miles ahead? We’ll go into that 
first, rest our horses, and take some food.” 

It was a fine oak grove, covering about an acre, 
with no undergrowth and a fair amount of grass, still 
green under the shade, on which the horses could 
graze. The trunks of the trees also were close enough 
together to hide them from anyone else who was not 
very near. Here the men ate cold food from their 
haversacks and let their horses nibble the grass for 
a half hour. 

They emerged refreshed and resumed their course 
toward the Potomac. In the very height of the after- 
noon blaze they saw a horseman on the crest of a 
hill, watching them intently through glasses. Sher- 
burne instantly raised his own glasses to his eyes. 

‘‘A Yankee scout,” he said. ‘‘He sees us and knows 
us for what we are, but he doesn’t know what we’re 
about.” 

“But he’s trying to guess,” said Harry, who was 
also using glasses. “I can’t see his face well enough 
to tell, but I know that in his place I’d be guessing.” 

“As we don’t want him hanging on to our heels and 
watching us, I think we’d better charge him.” 

“Have the whole troop turn aside and chase him ?” 

“No; Dick, you and I and eight men will do it. 
Marlowe, take the rest of the company straight along 
the road at an easy gait. But keep well behind the 
hedge that you see ahead.” 

Marlowe was his second in command, and taking 
the lead he continued with the troop. 

Marlowe rode behind one of the hedges, where they 


25 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


were hidden from the lone horseman on the hill, and 
Sherburne and Harry and the eight men followed. 
While they were yet hidden, Sherburne and his chosen 
band suddenly detached themselves from the others 
at a break in the hedge and galloped toward the horse- 
man who was still standing on the hill, gazing in- 
tently toward the point where he had last seen the 
troop riding. 

Sherburne, Harry and the privates rode at a gallop 
across the field, straight for the Union sentinel. He 
did not see them until they had covered nearly half 
the distance, and then with aggravating slowness he 
turned and rode over the opposite side of the hill. 
Harry had been watching him intently, and when he 
had come much nearer the figure seemed familiar to 
him. At first he could not recall it to mind, but a 
moment or two later he turned excitedly to Sherburne. 

“I know that man, although IVe never seen him 
before in a uniform,” he said. ‘T met him when 
President Davis was inaugurated at Montgomery and 
I saw him again at Washington. His name is Shep- 
ard, the most skillful and daring of all the Union 
spies.” 

‘Tve heard you speak of that fellow before,” said 
Sherburne, ^'and since we’ve put him to flight, I 
think we’d better stop. Ten to one, if we follow him 
over the brow of the hill, he’ll lead us into an ambush.” 

“I think you’re right. Captain, and it’s likely, too, 
that he’ll come back soon with a heavy cavalry de- 
tachment. I’ve no doubt that thousands of Union 
horsemen are this side of the river.” 


26 


AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


Sherburne was impressed by Harry’s words, and 
the little detachment, returning at a gallop, joined the 
main troop, which was now close to a considerable 
stretch of forest. 

'‘Ah, there they are!” exclaimed Harry, looking 
back at the hill on which he had seen the lone horse- 
man. 

A powerful body of cavalry showed for a moment 
against the sun, which was burning low and red in 
the west. The background was so intense and vivid 
that the horsemen did not form a mass, but every 
figure stood detached, a black outline against the sky. 
Harry judged that they were at least a thousand in 
number. 

"Too strong a force for us to meet,” said Sher- 
burne. "They must outnumber us five to one, and 
since they’ve had practice the Northern cavalry has 
improved a lot. It must be a part of the big force 
that made the scout toward our lines. Good thing the 
forest is just ahead.” 

"And a good thing, too, that night is not far off.” 

"Right, my boy, we need ’em both, the forest and 
the dark. The Union cavalry is going to pursue us, 
and I don’t mean to turn back. General Jackson 
sent us to find about McClellan’s crossing, and we’ve 
got to do it.” 

"I wouldn’t dare go back to Old Jack without the 
information we’re sent to get.” 

"Nor I. Hurry up the men, Marlowe. We’ve got 
to lose the Union cavalry in the forest somehow.” 

The men urged their horses forward at a gallop, 


27 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


and quickly reached the trees. But when Harry 
looked back he saw the thousand in blue about a mile 
away, coming at a pace equal to their own. He felt 
much apprehension. The road through the forest led 
straight before them, but the trail of two hundred 
horses could not be hidden even by night. They could 
turn into the forest and elude their pursuers, but, as 
Sherburne said, that meant abandoning their errand, 
and no one in all the group thought of such a thing. 

Sherburne increased the pace a little now, while he 
tried to think of some way out. Harry rode by his 
side in silence, and he, too, was seeking a solution. 
Through the trees, now nearly leafless, they saw the 
blue line still coming, and the perplexities of the brave 
young captain grew fast. 

But the night was coming down, and suddenly 
the long, lean figure of a man on the long, lean figure 
of a horse shot from the trees on their right and drew 
up by the side of Sherburne and Harry. 

‘‘Lankford, sir, Jim Lankford is my name,” he said 
to Sherburne, touching one finger to his forehead in 
a queer kind of salute. 

Harry saw that the man had a- thin, clean-shaven 
face with a strong nose and chin. 

“I ’low you’re runnin’ away from the Yankees,” 
said Lankford to Sherburne. 

Sherburne flushed, but no anger showed in his voice 
as he replied: 

“You’re right, but we run for two reasons. They’re 
five to our one, and we have business elsewhere that 
mustn’t be interrupted by fighting.” 


28 


AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


‘‘First reason is enough. A man who fights five to 
one is five times a fool. Fm a good Johnny Reb my- 
self, though I keep off the fightin’ lines. I live back 
there in a house among the trees, just off the road. 
You’d have seen it when you passed by, if you hadn’t 
been in such a hurry. Just settin’ down to take a 
smoke when Mandy, my wife, tells me she hears the 
feet of many horses thunderin’ on the road. In a 
moment I hear ’em, too. Run to the front porch, 
and see Confederate cavalry coming at a gallop, fol- 
lowed by a big Yankee force. Mandy and me didn’t 
like the sight, and we agree that I take a hand. Now 
I’m takin’ it.” 

“How do you intend to help us?” 

“I’m gettin’ to that. I saddled my big horse quick 
as lightnin’, and takin’ a runnin’ jump out of the 
woods, landed beside you. Now, listen. Captain; I 
reckon you’re on some sort of scoutin’ trip, and want 
to go on toward the river.” 

“You reckon right.” 

“About a mile further on we dip into a little valley. 
A creek, wide but shallow and with a bed all rocks, 
takes up most of the width of that valley. It goes 
nearly to the north, and at last reaches the Potomac. 
A half mile from the crossin’ ahead it runs through 
steep, high banks that come right down to its edges, 
but the creek bottom is smooth enough for the horses. 

I ’low I make myself plain enough, don’t I, Mr. 
Captain ?” 

“You do, Mr. Lankford, and you’re an angel in 
homespun. Without you we could never do what we 


29 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


want to do. Lead the way to that blessed creek. We 
don’t want any of the Yankee vanguard to see us 
when we turn and follow its stream.” 

‘‘We can make it easy. They might guess that 
we’re ridin’ in the water to hide our tracks, but the 
bottom is so rocky they won’t know whether we’ve 
gone up or down the stream. And if they guessed 
the right way, and followed it, they’d be likely to turn 
back at the cliffs, anyhow.” 

They urged their horses now to the uttermost, and 
Harry soon saw the waters of the creek shining 
through the darkness. Everything was falling out as 
Lankford had said. The pursuit was unseen and un- 
heard behind them, but they knew it was there. 

“Slow now, boys,” said Sherburne, as they rode 
into the stream. “We don’t want to make too much 
noise splashing the water. Are there many boulders 
in here, Mr. Lankford?” 

“Not enough to hurt.” 

“Then you lead the way. The men can come four 
abreast.” 

The water was about a foot deep, and despite their 
care eight hundred hoofs made a considerable splash- 
ing, but the creek soon turned around a hill and led 
on through dense forest. • Sherburne and Harry were 
satisfied that no Union horseman had either seen or 
heard them, and they followed Lankford with abso- 
lute confidence. Now and then the hoofs of a stum- 
bling horse would grind on the stones, but there was 
no other noise save the steady marching of two hun- 
dred men through water. 


30 


AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


The things that Lankford had asserted continued to 
come true. The creek presently flowed between banks 
fifty feet high, rocky and steep as a wall. But the 
stone bed of the creek was almost as smooth as a floor, 
and they^ stopped here a while to rest and let their 
fiorses drink. 

The enclosing walls were not more than fifty or 
sixty feet across the top and it was very dark in the 
gorge. Harry saw overhead a slice of dusky sky, lit 
by only a few stars, but it was pitchy black where he 
sat on his horse, and listened to his contented gurglings 
as he drank. He could merely make out the outlines 
of his comrades, but he knew that Sherburne was on 
one side of him and Lankford on the other. He could 
not hear the slightest sound of pursuit, and he was 
convinced that the Union cavalry had lost their trail. 
So was Sherburne. 

‘‘We owe you a big debt, Mr. Lankford, said the 
captain. 

“I Ve tried to serve my side,” said Lankford, 
“though, as I told you, I’m not goin’ on the firin’ line. 
It’s not worth while for all of us to get killed. Later 
on this country will need some people who are not 
dead.” 

“You’re right about that, Mr. Lankford,” said 
Sherburne, with a little laugh, “and you, for one, 
although you haven’t gone on the firing lines, have 
earned the right to live. You’ve done us a great 
service, sir.” 

“I reckon I have,” said Lankford with calm ego- 
tism, “but it was necessary for me to do it. I’ve got 


31 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


an inquirin’ mind, I have, and also a calculatin’ one. 
When I saw your little troop cornin’, an’ then that 
big troop of the Yankees cornin’ on behind, I knowed 
that you needed help. I knowed that this creek run 
down a gorge, and that I could lead you into the 
gorge and escape pursuit. I figgered, too, that you 
were on your way to see about McClellan crossin’ the 
Potomac, an’ I figgered next that you meant to keep 
straight on, no matter what happened. So I’m goin’ 
to lead you out of the gorge, and some miles fur- 
ther ahead you’ll come to the Potomac, where I 
guess you can use your own eyes and see all you want 
to see.” 

“The horses are all right now and I think we’d 
better be moving, Mr. Lankford.” 

They started, but did not go faster than a walk 
while they were in the gorge. Harry’s eyes had grown 
somewhat used to the darkness, and he could make 
out the rocky walls, crested with trees, the higher 
branches of which seemed almost to meet over the 
chasm. 

It was a weird passage, but time and place did not 
oppress Harry. He felt instead a certain surge of 
the spirits. They had thrown off the pursuit — there 
could be no doubt of it — and the first step in their 
mission was accomplished. They were now in the 
midst of action, action thrilling and of the highest 
importance, and his soul rose to the issue. 

He had no doubt that some great movement, pos- 
sibly like that of the Second Manassas, hung upon 
their mission, and Lee and Jackson might be together 


32 


AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


at that very moment, planning the mighty enterprise 
which would be shaped according to their news. 

They emerged from the gorge and rode up a low, 
sloping bank which gave back but little sound to the 
tread of the horses, and here Lankford said that he 
would leave them. Sherburne reached over his gaunt- 
leted hand and gave him a powerful grasp. 

'‘We won’t forget this service, Mr. Lankford,” he 
said. 

“I ain’t goin’ to let you forget it. Keep straight 
ahead an’ you’ll strike a cross-country road in ’bout 
a quarter of a mile. It leads you to the Potomac, an’ 
I reckon from now on you’ll have to take care of 
yourselves.” 

Lankford melted away in the darkness as he rode 
back up the gorge, and the troop went on at a good 
pace across a country, half field, half forest. They 
came to a road which was smooth and hard, and 
increased their speed. They soon reached a region 
which several of their horsemen knew, and, as the 
night lightened a little, they rode fast toward the 
Potomac. 

Harry looked at his watch and saw that it was not 
much past midnight. They would have ample oppor- 
tunity for observation before morning. A half hour 
later they discerned dim lights ahead and they knew 
that the Potomac could not be far away. 

They drew to one side in a bit of forest, and Sher- 
burne again detached himself, Harry and eight others 
from the troop, which he left as before under the 
command of Marlowe. 


33 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘Wait here in the wood for us,” he said to his sec- 
ond in command. “We should be back by dawn. Of 
course, if any force of the enemy threatens you, you’ll 
have to do what seems best, and we’ll ride back to 
General Jackson alone.” 

The ten went on a bit farther, using extreme care 
lest they run into a Northern picket. Fortunately the 
fringe of wood, in which they found shelter, continued 
to a point near the river, and as they went forward 
quietly they saw many lights. They heard also a great 
tumult, a mixture of many noises, the rumbling of 
cannon and wagon wheels, the cracking of drivers’ 
whips by the hundreds and hundreds, the sounds of 
drivers swearing many oaths, but swearing together 
and in an unbroken stream. 

They rode to the crest of the hill, where they were 
well hidden among oaks and beeches, and there the 
whole scene burst upon them. The late moon had 
brightened, and many stars had come out as if for 
their especial benefit. They saw the broad stream of 
the Potomac shining like silver and spanned by a 
bridge of boats, on which a great force, horse, foot, 
artillery, and wagons, was crossing. 

“That’s McClellan’s army,” said Harry. 

“And coming into Virginia,” said Sherburne. 
“Well, we can’t help their entering the state, but we 
can make it a very uncomfortable resting place for 
them.” 

“How many men do you suppose they have?” 

“A hundred thousand here at the least, and others 
must be crossing elsewhere. But don’t you worry, . 


34 


AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


Harry. We’ve got seventy thousand men of our own, 
and Lee and Jackson, who, as you have been told be- 
fore, are equal to a hundred thousand more. Mc- 
Clellan will march out again faster than he has 
marched in.” 

“Still, he’s shown more capacity than the other 
Union generals in the East, and his soldiers are de- 
voted to him.” 

“But he isn’t swift, Harry. While he’s thinking, 
Lee and Jackson have thought and are acting. Queer, 
isn’t it, that a young general should be slow, and older 
ones so much swifter. Why, General Lee must be 
nearly old enough to be General McClellan’s father.” 

“It’s so. Captain, but those men are crossing fast. 
Listen how the cannon wheels rumble! And I know 
that a thousand whips are cracking at once. They’ll 
all be on our soil to-morrow.” 

“So they will, but long before that time we’ll be 
back at General Jackson’s tent with the news of their 
coming.” 

“If nothing gets in the way. Do you remember 
that man whom we saw on the hill watching, the one 
who I said was Shepard, the ablest and most daring 
of all their spies?” 

“I haven’t forgotten him.” 

“This man Shepard, Captain, is one of the most 
dangerous of all our enemies. The Union could much 
more easily spare one of its generals than Shepard. 
He’s omniscient. He’s a lineal descendant of Argus, 
and has all the old man’s hundred eyes, with a few 
extra ones added in convenient places. He’s a witch 


35 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


doctor, medicine man, and other things beside. I 
believe he’s followed us, that some way he’s picked up 
our trail somewhere. He may have been hanging on 
the rear of the troop when we came through the 
gorge.” 

“Nonsense, Harry, you’re turning the man into a 
supernatural being.” 

“That’s just the way I feel about him.” 

“Then, if that’s the case, we’d better be clearing 
out as fast as we can. We’ve seen enough, anyhow. 
We’ll go straight back to the company and ride hard 
for the camp.” 

They reached the troop, which was waiting silently 
under the command of the faithful Marlowe. But 
before they could gallop back toward the south, the 
loud, clear call of a trumpet came from a point near 
by, and it was followed quickly by the beat of many 
hoofs. 

“I see him! It’s Shepard,” exclaimed Harry ex- 
citedly. 

He had beheld what was almost the ghose of a 
horseman galloping among the trees, followed in an 
instant by the more solid rush of the cavalry. 

It was evident to both Sherburne and Harry that 
the Federal pickets and outriders had acquired much 
skill and alertness, and they urged the troop to its 
greatest speed. Even if they should be able to defeat 
their immediate pursuers, it was no place for them to 
engage in battle, as the enemy could soon come up 
in thousands. 

As they galloped down the road they heard bullets 
3b 


\ 

AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 

kicking up the dust behind, and the sound made them 
go faster. But they were still out of range and the 
pursuit did not make any gain in the next few min- 
utes, But Harry, looking back, saw that the Union 
cavalry was hanging on grimly, and he surmised also 
that other forces might appear soon on their flanks. 

‘‘We Ve got to use every effort,” he said to Sher- 
burne. 

“That’s apparent. You were right about your man 
Shepard, Harry. He has certainly inherited all the 
eyes of his ancestor, Argus, and about three times as 
many besides. He’s omniscient, right enough.” 

“Are they gaining?” 

“Not yet. But they will, as fresh pursuers come 
up on the flank. Some of us must fall or be taken, 
but then at least one of us must get back to Old Jack 
with the news. So we’re bound to scatter. When we 
reach that patch of woods on the left running down 
to the road, you’re to leave us, gallop into it and make 
your way back through the gorge. I’ll throw off the 
other messengers as we go on.” 

“Must I be the first to go?” 

“Yes, you’re under my orders now, and I think you 
the most trustworthy. Now, Harry, off with you, 
and remember that luck is with him who tries the 
hardest.” 

They were within the dark shade of the trees and 
Harry turned at a gallop among them, guiding his 
horse between the trunks, pausing a moment further 
on to hear the pursuit thunder by, and then resuming 
his race for the gorge. 


37 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


He continued to ride at a great pace, meeting no 
enemy, and at last reached the creek. He was a good 
observer and he was confident that he could ride back 
up it without trouble. He feared nothing but Shepard. 
A single horseman in the darkness could throw off any 
pursuit by cavalry, but the terrible spy might turn at 
once to the creek and the gorge. He had the conso- 
lation, though, of knowing that Shepard could not 
follow him and all the others at the same time. 

Harry paused a moment at the water’s edge and 
listened for the sounds of pursuit. None came. Then 
he plunged boldly in and rode against the stream, 
passing into the depths of the gorge. It was darker 
now, being near to that darkest hour before the dawn, 
and the slit of sky above was somber. 

But he rode on at a good walk until he was about 
half way through the gorge. Then he heard sounds 
above, and drawing his horse in by the cliff he stopped 
and waited. Voices came down to him, and once or 
twice he caught the partial silhouette of a horse against 
the dark sky. 

He felt quite sure that it was a body of Union 
cavalry riding practically at random — if they were led 
by Shepard they would have come up the gorge 
itself. 

Presently something splashed heavily in the water 
near him. A stone had been rolled over the brink. 
He drew his horse and himself more closely against 
the wall. Another stone fell near and a laugh came 
from above. Evidently the lads in blue had pushed 
the stones over merely to hear the splash, because 

38 


AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


Harry ceased to hear the voices and he was quite sure 
that they had ridden away. 

He waited a little while for precaution, and then 
resumed his own careful journey through the gorge. 
Just as the dawn was breaking he emerged from the 
stream and entered the forest. It was a cold dawn, 
that of late October, white with frost, and Harry shiv- 
ered. There was still food in his knapsack, and he ate 
hungrily as he rode through the deserted country, and 
wondered what had become of Shepard and the others. 

It was not yet full day. The grass was still white 
with frost. The early wind, blowing out of the north, 
brought an increased chill. The food Harry had 
eaten defended him somewhat against the cold, but 
his body had been weakened by so much riding and 
loss of sleep that he found it wise to unroll his blanket 
and wrap it around his shoulders and chest. 

He was, perhaps, affected by the cold and anxiety, 
but the country seemed singularly lonesome and de- 
pressing. Sweeping the whole circle of the horizon 
with his glasses, he saw several farm houses, but no 
smoke was rising from their chimneys. Silent and 
cold, they added to his own feeling of desolation. He 
wondered what had become of his comrades. Perhaps 
Sherburne had been taken, or killed. He was not one 
to surrender, even to overwhelming numbers, without 
a fight. 

But he would go on. Drawing the blanket more 
tightly around his body, he turned into the narrow 
road by which he had come, and urged his horse into 
that easy Southern gait known as a pace. He would 


39 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


have been glad to go faster, but he was too wise to 
push a horse that had already been traveling twenty 
hours. 

Harry did not yet feel secure by any means. The 
lads of the South, where the cities were few and small, 
had been used from childhood to the horse. They 
had become at once cavalry of the highest order ; but 
the lads of the North were learning, too. He had 
no doubt that bands of Northern horsemen were now 
ranging the country to the very verge of the camps 
of Jackson and Lee. 

The belief became a certainty when a score of riders 
in blue appeared on a hill behind him. One of their 
number blew a musical note on a trumpet, and then 
all of them, with a shout, urged their horses in pur- 
suit of Harry, who felt as if it were for all the world 
a fox chase, with himself as the fox. 

He knew that his danger was great, but he resolved 
to triumph over it. He must get through to Jackson 
with the news that the Army of the Potomac was in 
Virginia. Others from Sherburne’s troop might ar- 
rive with the same news, but he did not know it. It 
was not his place to reckon on the possible achieve- 
ments of others. So far as this errand was concerned, 
and so far as he was now concerned, there was nobody 
in the world but himself. Swiftly he reckoned the 
chances. 

He changed the pace of his horse into an easy gal- 
lop and sped along the road. But the horse did not 
have sufficient reserve of strength to increase his speed 
and maintain the increase. He knew without looking 


40 


AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


back that the Union riders were gaining, and he con- 
tinued to mature his plan. 

Harry was now cool and deliberate. It was possible 
that a Confederate troop scouting in that direction 
might save him, but it was far from a certainty, and 
he could not take it into his calculations. He was 
now riding between two cornfields in which all the 
corn had been cut, but he saw forest on the right, about 
a half mile ahead. 

He believed that his salvation lay in that forest. 
He hoped that it stretched far toward the right. He 
had never seen a finer forest, a more magnificent for- 
est, one that looked more sheltering, and the nearer 
he came to it the better it looked. 

He did not glance back, but he felt sure that the 
blue horsemen must still be gaining. Then came that 
mellow, hunting note of the trumpet, much nearer 
than before. Harry felt a thrill of anger. He re- 
mained the fox, and they remained the hunters. He 
could feel the good horse panting beneath him, and 
white foam was on his mouth. 

Harry began to fear now that he would be over- 
taken before he could reach the trees. He glanced 
at the fields. If it had been only a few weeks earlier 
he might have sprung from his horse and have escaped 
in the thick and standing corn, but now he would be 
an easy target. He must gain the forest somehow. 
He said over and over to himself, ‘T must reach it! 
I must reach it ! I must reach it !’^ 

Now he heard the crack of rifles. Bullets whizzed 
past. They no longer kicked up the dust behind him, 


41 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


but on the side, and even in front. Men began to 
shout to him, and he heard certain words that meant 
surrender. Chance had kept the bullets away from 
him so far, but the same chance might turn them upon 
him at any moment. It was a risk that he must take. 

The shouts grew louder. The rapid thudding of 
hoofs behind him beat on his ears in that minute of 
excitement like thunder. Nearer and nearer came the 
forest. The rifles behind him were now crashing 
faster. It seemed to him that he could almost smell 
their smoke, and still neither he nor his horse was hit. 
After making all due allowance for badness of aim 
at a gallop, it was almost a miracle, and he drew new 
courage from the fact. 

He passed the cornfields and with a sharp jerk of 
the reins turned his weary horse into the woods on 
the right. The forest was thick with a considerable 
growth of underbrush, but Harry was a skillful and 
daring rider, and he guided his horse so expertly that 
in a few moments he was hidden from the view of the 
cavalry. But he knew that it could not continue so 
long. They would spread out, driving everything in 
front of them as they advanced. He was still the 
fox and they were still the hunters. Yet he had gained 
something. For a fugitive the forest was better than 
the open. 

He maintained his direction toward Jackson’s camp. 
His horse leaped a gully and he barely escaped being 
swept off on the farther side by the bough of a tree. 
Then some of his pursuers caught sight of him again, 
and a half dozen shots were fired. He was not 


42 



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AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


touched, but he felt his horse shiver and he knew at 
once that the good, true animal had been hit. A few 
leaps more and the living machinery beneath him 
began to jar heavily. 

Another thick clump of undergrowth hid him at 
that moment from the cavalrymen, and he did the 
only thing that was left to him. Throwing one leg 
over the saddle, he leaped clear and darted away. 
Before he had gone a dozen steps he heard his horse 
fall heavily, and he sighed for a true and faithful 
servant and comrade gone forever. 

He heard the shouts of the Union horsemen who 
had overtaken the fallen horse, but not the rider. 
Then the shouts ceased, and for a little while there 
was no thud of hoofs. Evidently they were puzzled. 
They had no use for a dead horse, but they wanted 
his rider, and they did not know which way he had 
gone. Harry knew, however, that they would soon 
spread out to a yet greater extent, and being able to 
go much faster on horseback than he could on foot, 
they would have a certain advantage. 

He had lost his blanket from his shoulders, but he 
still had his pistol, and he kept one hand on the butt, 
resolved not to be taken. He heard the horsemen 
crashing here and there among the bushes and calling 
to one another. He knew that they pursued him so 
persistently because they believed him to be one who 
had spied upon their army and it would be of great 
value to them that he be taken or slain. 

He might have turned and run back toward the 
Potomac, doubling on his own track, as it were, a 


43 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


trick which would have deluded the Union cavalry, 
but his resolution held firm not only to escape, but also 
to reach Jackson with his news. 

He stood at least a minute behind some thick bushes, 
and it was a precious minute to his panting* lungs. 
The fresh air flowed in again and strength returned. 
His pulses leaped once more with courage and resolve, 
and he plunged anew into the deep wood. If he could 
only reach a part of the forest that was much rough- 
ened by outcroppings of rock or gulleyed by rains, he 
felt that his chance of escape would almost turn into 
a certainty. He presently came to one such gulley or 
ravine, and as he crossed it he felt that he had made 
a distinct gain. The horsemen would secure a passage 
lower down or higher up, but it gave him an advantage 
of two hundred yards at least. 

Part of the gain he utilized for another rest, lying 
down this time behind a rocky ridge until he heard 
the cavalrymen calling to one another. Then he rose 
and ran forward again, slipping as quietly as he could 
among the trees and bushes. He still had the feel- 
ing of being the fox, with the hounds hot on his 
trail, but he was no longer making a random rush. 
He had become skillful and cunning like the real 
fox. 

He knew that the horsemen were not trailers. They 
could not follow him by his footsteps on the hard 
ground, and he took full advantage of it. Yet they 
utilized their numbers and pursued in a long line. 
Once, two of them would have galloped directly upon 
him, but just before they came in sight he threw him- 


44 


AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


self flat in a shallow gully and pulled over his body 
a mass of fallen leaves. 

The two men rode within ten yards of him. Had 
they not been so eager they would have seen him, as 
his body was but partly covered. But they looked 
only in front, thinking that the fugitive was still 
running ahead of them through the forest, and gal- 
loped on. 

As soon as they were out of sight Harry rose and 
followed. He deemed it best to keep directly in their 
track, because then no one was likely to come up be- 
hind him, and if they turned, he could turn, too. 

He heard the two men crashing on ahead and once 
or twice he caught glimpses of them. Then he knew 
by the sounds of the hoofs that they were separating, 
and he followed the one who was bearing to the left, 
keeping a wary watch from side to side, lest others 
overhaul him. 

In those moments of danger and daring enterprise 
the spirit of Harry’s great ancestor descended upon 
him again. This flight through the forest and hiding 
among bushes and gulleys was more like the early 
days of the border than those of the great civil war 
in which he was now a young soldier. 

Instincts and perceptions, atrophied by civilization, 
suddenly sprang up. He seemed to be able to read 
every sound. Not a whisper in the forest escaped 
his understanding, and this sudden flame of a great 
early life put into him new thoughts and a new 
intelligence. 

Now a plan, astonishing in its boldness, formed 
45 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


itself in his mind. He saw through openings in the 
trees that the forest did not extend much farther, and 
he also saw not far ahead of him the single horse- 
man whom he was following. The man had slowed 
down and was looking about as if puzzled. He rode 
a powerful horse that seemed but little wearied by the 
pursuit. 

Harry picked up a long fragment of a fallen bough, 
and he ran toward the horseman, springing from the 
shelter of one tree trunk to that of another with all 
the deftness of a primitive Wyandot. He was almost 
upon the rider before the man turned with a startled 
exclamation. 

Then Harry struck, and his was no light hand. The 
end of the stick met the man’s head, and without a 
sound he rolled unconscious from the saddle. It was 
a tribute to Harry’s humanity that he caught him and 
broke his fall. A single glance at his face as he lay 
upon the ground showed that he had no serious hurt, 
being merely stunned. 

Then Harry grasped the bridle and sprang into the 
saddle that he had emptied, urging the horse directly 
through the opening toward the cleared ground. He 
relied with absolute faith upon his new mount and the ' 
temporary ignorance of the others that his horse had ^ 
changed riders. , 

As he passed out of the forest he leaned low in the 
saddle to keep the color of his clothing from being ; 
seen too soon, and speaking encouraging words in his 
horse’s ears, raced toward the south. He heard shouts ; 
behind him, but no shots, and he knew that the cav- 


AHORSE WITH SHERBURNE 


alrymen still believed him to be their own man fol- 
lowing some new sign. 

He was at least a half mile away before they dis- 
covered the difference. Perhaps some one had found 
their wounded comrade in the forest, or the man him- 
self, reviving quickly, had told the tale. 

In any event Harry heard a distant shout of anger 
and surprise. Chance had favored him in giving him 
another splendid horse, and now, as he rode like the 
wind, the waning pursuit sank out of sight behind him. 


CHAPTER III 


JACKSON MOVES 

I T was impossible for Harry to restrain a vivid 
feeling of exultation. He was in the open, and 
he was leaving the Northern cavalry far behind. 
Nor was it likely that any further enemy would ap- 
pear now between him and Jackson’s army. Chance 
had certainly favored him. What a glorious goddess 
Chance was when she happened to be on your side! 
Then everything fell out as you wished it. You could 
not go wrong. 

The horse he rode was even better than the one 
he had lost, and a pair of splendid pistols in holsters 
lay across the saddle. He could account for two 
enemies if need be, but when he looked back he saw 
no pursuers in sight, and he slowed his pace in order 
not to overtax the horse. 

Not long afterwards he saw the Southern pickets 
belonging to the vanguard of the Invincibles. St. 
Clair himself was with them, and when he saw Harry 
he galloped forward, uttering a shout. 

St. Clair had known of the errand upon which 
Harry had gone with Sherburne, and now he was 


48 


JACKSON MOVES 


alarmed to see him riding back alone, worn and cov- 
ered with dust. 

‘What’s the matter, Harry?” he cried, “and where 
are the others ?” 

“Nothing’s the matter with me, and I don’t know 
where the others are. But, Arthur, I’ve got to see 
j General Jackkson at once! Where is he?” 

I Harry’s manner was enough to impress his comrade, 
who knew him so well. 

“This way,” he said. “Not more than four or five 
[ hundred yards. There, that’s General Jackson’s tent!” 

Harry leaped from his horse as he came near and 
i made a rush for the tent. The flap was open, but a 
I sentinel who stood in front put up his rifle, and barred 
t the way. A low monotone came from within the tent. 

“The General’s praying,” he said. “I can’t let you 
I in for a minute or two.” 

Harry took 'off his hat and stood in silence while 
i the two minutes lasted. All his haste was suddenly 
gone from hini. The strong affection that he felt for 
Jackson was tinged at times with awe, and this awe 
was always strongest when the general was praying. 
He knew that the prayer was no affectation, that it 
came from the bottom of his soul, like that of a cru- 
sader, asking forgiveness for his sins. 

The monotone ceased, the soldier took down his 
rifle which was held like a bar across the way, and 
Harry, entering, saluted his general, who was sitting 
in the half light at a table, reading a little book, which 
the lad guessed was a pocket Bible. 

Harry saluted and Jackson looked at him gravely. 


49 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘‘You’ve come back alone, it seems,” he said, “but 
you’ve obeyed my instructions not to come without 
definite news?” 

“I have, ;sir.” 

“What have you seen?” 

“We saw the main army of General McClellan 
crossing the Potomac at Berlin. He must have had 
there a hundred thousand men and three or four hun- 
dred guns, and others were certainly crossing else- 
where.” 

“You saw all this with your own eyes?” 

“I did, sir. We watched them for a long time. 
They were crossing on a bridge of boats.” 

“You are dusty and you look very worn. Did you 
come in contact with the enemy?” 

“Yes, sir. Many of their horsemen were already 
on this side of the river, and this morning I was 
pressed very hard by a troop of their cavalry. I 
gained a wood, but just at the edge of it my horse 
was killed by a chance shot.” 

“Your horse killed? Then how could you escape 
from cavalry?” 

“Chance favored me, sir. I dodged them for a 
while in the woods and underbrush, helped by gullies 
here and there, and when I came to the edge of the 
wood only a single horseman was near me. I hid 
behind a tree and knocked him out of the saddle as 
he was riding past.” 

“I hope you did not kill him.” 

“I did not. He was merely stunned. He will have 
a headache for a day or two, and then he will be as 


50 


JACKSON MOVES 


well as ever. I jumped on his horse and galloped 
here as straight and fast as I could.” 

A faint smile passed over Jackson’s face. 

“You were lucky to make the exchange of horses,” 
he said, “and you have done well. The enemy comes 
and our days of rest are over. Do you know anything 
of Captain Sherburne and his troop?” 

“Captain Sherburne, under the urgency of pursuit, 
scattered his men in order that some of them at least 
might reach you with the news of General McClellan’s 
crossing. I was the first detached, and so I know 
nothing of the others.” 

“And also you were the first to arrive. I trust that 
Captain Sherburne and all of his men will yet come. 
We can ill spare them.” 

“I truly hope so, sir.” 

“You need food and sleep. Get both. You will be 
called when you are needed. You have done well, 
Lieutenant Kenton.” 

“Thank you, sir.” 

Harry, saluting again, withdrew. He was very 
proud of his general’s commendation, but he was also 
on the verge of physical collapse. He obtained some 
food at a camp fire near by, ate it quickly, wrapped 
himself in borrowed blankets, and lay down under the 
shade of an oak. Langdon saw him just as he was 
about to close his eyes, and called to him: 

“Here, Harry, I didn’t know you were back. What’s 
your news?” 

“That McClellan and the Yankee army are this side 
of the Potomac. That’s all. Good night.” 


51 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


He closed his eyes, and although it was near the 
middle of the day, with the multifarious noises of the 
camp about him, he fell into the deep and beautiful 
sleep of the tired youth who has done his duty. 

He was still asleep when Captain Sherburne, worn 
and wounded slightly, came in and reported also to 
General Jackson. He and his main force had been 
pursued and had been in a hot little brush with the 
Union cavalry, both sides losing several men. Others 
who had been detached before the action also returned 
and reported. All of them, like Harry, were told to 
seek food and sleep. 

Harry slept a long time, and the soldiers who 
passed, making many preparations, never disturbed 
him. But the entire Southern army under Lee, as- 
sisted by his two great corps commanders, Jackson and 
Longstreet, was making ready to meet the Army of 
the Potomac under McClellan. The spirit of the 
Army of Northern Virginia was high, and the news 
that the enemy was marching was welcome to them. 

When Harry awoke the sun had passed its zenith 
and the cool October shadows were falling. He 
yawned prodigiously, stretched his arms, and for a 
few moments could not remember where he was, or 
what he had been doing. 

‘‘Quit yawning so hard,” said Happy Tom Lang- 
don. “You may get your mouth so wide open that 
you’ll never be able to shut it again.” 

“What’s happened?” 

“What’s happened, while you were asleep? Well, 
it will take a long time to tell it, Mr. Rip Van Winkle. 


52 


JACKSON MOVES 


You have slept exactly a week, and in the course of 
that time we fought a great battle with McClellan, 
were defeated by him, chiefly owing to your comatose 
condition, and have fallen back on Richmond, carry- 
ing you with us asleep in a wagon. If you will look 
behind you you will see the spires of Richmond. Oh, 
Harry ! Harry ! Why did you sleep so long and so 
hard when we needed you so much ?’' 

“Shut up, Tom. If ever talking matches become 
the fashion, I mean to enter you in all of them for the 
first prize. Now, tell me what happened while I was 
asleep, and tell it quick!” 

“Well, me lud, since you’re high and haughty, not 
to say dictatorial about it, I, as proud and haughty as 
thyself, defy thee. George, you tell him all about it.” 

Dalton grinned. A grave and serious youth him- 
self, he liked Langdon’s perpetual fund of chaff and 
good humor. 

“Nothing has happened, Harry, while you slept,” 
he said, “except that the army, or at least General 
Jackson’s corps, has been making ready for a possible 
great battle. We’re scattered along a long line, and 
General Lee and General Longstreet are some distance 
from us, but our generals don’t seem to be alarmed 
in the least. It’s said that McClellan will soon be 
between us and Richmond, but I can’t see any alarm 
about that either.” 

“Why should there be?” said St. Clair, who was 
also sitting by. “It would make McClellan’s position 
dangerous, not ours.” 

“Arthur puts it right,” said Langdon. “When we 


53 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


go to our tents, show him the new uniform you’ve 
got, Arthur. It’s the most gorgeous affair in the 
Army of Northern Virginia, and it cost him a whole 
year’s pay in Confederate money. Have you noticed, 
Harry, that the weakest thing about us is our money ? 
We’re the greatest marchers and fighters in the world, 
but nobody, not even our own people, seem to fall in 
love with our money.” 

“I suppose that General Jackson is now ready to 
march whenever the word should come,” said St. 
Clair. ‘The boys, as far as I can see, have returned 
to their rest and play. There’s that Cajun band play- 
ing again.” 

“And it sounds mighty good,” said Harry. “Look 
at those Louisiana Frenchmen dancing.” 

# The spirits of the swarthy Acadians were irrepres- 

sible. As they had danced in the great days in the 
valley in the spring, now they were dancing when 
autumn was merging into winter, and they sang their 
songs of the South, some of which had come from 
old Brittany through Nova Scotia to Louisiana. 

Harry liked the French blood, and he had learned 
to like greatly these men who were so much under- 
estimated in the beginning. He and his comrades 
watched them as they whirled in the dance, clasped 
, in one another’s arms, their dark faces glowing, white 
teeth flashing and black eyes sparkling. He saw that 
they were carried away by the music and the dance, 
and as they floated over the turf they were dreaming 
of their far and sunny land and the girls they had 
left behind them. He had been reared in a stern and 


54 


JACKSON MOVES 


more northern school, but he had learned long since 
that a love of innocent pleasure was no sign of 
effeminacy or corruption. 

“Good to look on, isn’t it, Harry?” said St. Clair. 

“Yes, and good to hear, too.” 

“Come with me into this little dip, and I’ll show 
you another sight that’s good to see.” 

There was a low ridge on their right, crested with 
tall trees and dropping down abruptly on the other 
side. A little distance on rose another low ridge, but 
between the two was a snug and grassy bowl, and 
within the bowl, sitting on the dry grass, with a chess- 
board between them, were Colonel Leonidas Talbot 
and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. They 
were absorbed so deeply in their game that they did 
not notice the boys on the crest of the bank looking 
over at them. 

Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hector St. Hilaire had not changed a particle — to the 
eyes, at least — in a year and a half of campaigning 
and tremendous battles. They may have been a little 
leaner and a little thinner, but they were lean and thin 
men, anyhow. Their uniforms, although faded and 
worn, were neat and clean, and as each sat on 
a fragment of log, while the board rested on a 
stump between, they were able to maintain their 
dignity. 

It was Colonel Talbot’s move. His hand rested on 
the red king and he pondered long. Lieutenant- 
Colonel St. Hilaire waited without a sign of impa- 
tience. He would take just as long a time with his 


55 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


knight or bishop, or whichever of the white men he 
chose to use. 

“I confess, Hector,” said Colonel Talbot at length, 
‘‘that this move puzzles me greatly.” 

“It would puzzle me too, Leonidas, were I in 
your place,” said Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire; 
“but you must recall that just before the Second 
Manassas you seemed to have me checkmated, 
and that I have escaped from a most dangerous 
position.” 

“True, true. Hector ! I thought I had you, but you 
slipped from my net. Those were, beyond all dispute, 
most skillful and daring moves you made. It pays to 
be bold in this world.” 

“Do you know,” whispered St. Clair to Harry, 
“that this unfinished game is the one they began last 
spring in the valley? We saw them playing it in a 
fence corner before action. They’ve taken it up again 
at least four or five times between battles, but neither 
has ever been able to win. However, they’ll fight it 
out to a finish, if a bullet doesn’t get one first. They 
always remember the exact position in which the fig- 
ures were when they quit.” 

Colonel Talbot happened to look up and saw the 
boys. 

“Come down,” he said, “and join us. It is pleasant 
to see you again, Harry. I heard of your mission, its 
success and your safe return. Hector, I suppose we’ll 
have to postpone the next stage of our game until we 
whip the Yankees again or are whipped by them. I 
believe I can yet rescue that red king.” 

56 


I 

. ACK30N MOVES 

‘‘Perhaps so, Leonidas. Undoubtedly you’ll have 
plenty of fc.r, to think over it.” 

“Which is ■ good thing, Hector.” 

“Which is undoubtedly a good thing, Leonidas.” 

They put the chess men carefully in a box, which 
they gave to an orderly with very strict injunctions. 
Then both, after heaving a deep sigh, transformed 
themselves into men of energy, action, precision and 
judgment. Every soldier and officer in the trim ranks 
of the Invincibles was ready. 

But action did not come as soon as Harry and his 
friends had thought. Lee made preliminary move- 
ments to mass his army for battle, and then stopped. 
The spies reported that political wire-pulling, that 
bane of the North, was at work. McClellan’s enemies 
at Washington were active, and his indiscreet utter- 
ances were used to the full against him. Attention 
was called again and again to his great overestimates 
of Lee’s army and to the paralysis that seemed to 
overcome him when he was in the presence of the 
enemy. Lincoln, the most forgiving of men, could 
not forgive him for his failure to use his full oppor- 
tunity atfi^ntietam and destroy Lee. 

The advance of McClellan stopped. His army re- 
nained motionless while October passed into Novem- 
ber. The cold winds off the mountains swept the 
last leaves from the trees, and Harry wondered what 
was going to happen. Then St. Clair came to him, 
precise and dignified in manner, but obviously anxious 
to tell important news. 

“What is it, Arthur?” asked Harry. 


57 


THE STAR OF GETT\"SBURG 

“WeVe got news straight from Washington that 
McClellan is no longer commander of I'he Army of 
the Potomac.” 

‘‘What! They’ve nobody to put in' his place.” 

“But they have put somebody in his place, just the 
same.” 

“Name, please.” 

“Burnside, Ambrose E. Burnside, with a beautiful 
fringe of whiskers along each side of his -face.” 

“Well, we can beat any general who wears side 
whiskers. After all, I’m glad we don’t have McClel- 
lan to deal with again. Wasn’t this Burnside the man 
who delayed a part of the Union attack at Antietam 
so long that we had time to beat off the other part?” 

“The same.” 

“Then I’m thinking that he’ll be caught between 
the hammer and the anvil of Lee and Jackson, just 
as Pope was.” 

“Most likely. Anyhow, our army is rejoicing o'^er 
the removal of McClellan as commander-imchief of 
the Army of the Potomac. That’s something of a 
tribute to McClellan, isn’t it?” 

“Yes, good-bye, George! We’ve had two gool 
fights with you. Seven Days and Antietam, with Pop> 
in between at the Second Manassas, and nowf; ho ! foi 
Burnside !” 

The reception of the news that Burnside had re- 
placed McClellan was the same throughout the Army 
of Northern Virginia. The officers and soldiers now 
felt that they were going to face a man who was far 
less of a match for Lee and Jackson than McClellan 

58 


JACKSON MOVES 


had been, and McClellan himself had been unequal 
to the task. They were anxious to meet Burnside, 
They heard that he was honest and had no overween- 
ing opinion of his own abilities. He did not wish to 
be put in the place of McClellan, preferring to remain 
a division or corps commander. 

‘‘Then, if that’s so,” said Sherburne, “we’ve won 
already. If a man thinks he’s not able to lead the 
Army of the Potomac, then he isn’t. Anyhow, we’ll 
quickly see what will happen.” 

But again it was not as soon as they had had ex- 
pected. The Northern advance was delayed once 
more, and Jackson with his staff and a large part of 
his force moved to Winchester, the town that he loved 
so much, and around which he had won so much of 
his glory. His tent was pitched beside the Presby- 
terian manse, and he and Dr. Graham resumed their 
theological discussions, in which Jackson had an in- 
terest so deep and abiding that the great war rolling 
about them, with himself as a central figure, could not 
disturb it. ' 

The coldness of the weather increased and the winds 
from the mountains were often bitter, but the new 
stay in Winchester was pleasant, like the old. Harry 
himself felt a throb of joy when they returned to the 
familiar places. Despite the coldness of mid-Novem- 
ber the weather was often beautiful. The troops, 
scattered through the fields and in the forest about 
the town, were in a happy mood. They had many 
dead comrades to remember, but youth cannot mourn 
long. They were there in ease and plenty again, under 


59 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


a commander who had led them to nothing but victory. 

They heard many reports that Burnside was march- 
ing and that he might soon cross the Rappahannock, 
and they heard also' that Jackson’s advance to Win- 
chester with his corps had created the deepest alarm 
in Washington. The North did not trust Burnside 
as a commander-in-chief, and it had great cause to 
fear Jackson. Even the North itself openly expressed 
admiration for his brilliant achievements. 

Reports came to Winchester that an attack by Jack- 
son on Washington was feared. Maryland expected 
another invasion. Pennsylvania, remembering the dar- 
ing raid which Stuart had made through Chambers- 
burg, one of her cities, picking up prisoners on the 
way, dreaded the coming of a far mightier force than 
the one Stuart had led. At the capital itself it was 
said that many people were packing, preparatory to 
fleeing into the farther North. 

But Harry and his comrades thought little of these 
things for a few days. It was certainly pleasant there 
in the little Virginia town. The people of Winchester 
and those of the country far and wide delighted to 
help and honor them. Food was abundant and the 
crisp cold strengthened and freshened the blood in 
their veins. The fire and courage of Jackson’s men 
had never risen higher. 

Jackson himself seemed to be thinking but little of 
war for a day or two. His inseparable companion 
was the Presbyterian minister. Dr. Graham, to whom 
he often said that he thought it was the noblest and 
grandest thing in the world to be a great minister. 

6o 


JACKSON MOVES 


Harry, as his aide, being invariably near him, was 
impressed more and more by his extraordinary mix- 
ture of martial and religious fervor. The man who 
prayed before going into battle, and who was never 
willing to fight on Sunday, would nevertheless hurl 
his men directly into the cannon’s mouth for the sake 
of victory, and would never excuse the least flinching 
on the part of either officer or private. 

It seemed to Harry that the two kinds of fervor in 
Jackson, the martial and the religious, were in about 
equal proportions, and they always inspired him with 
a sort of awe. Deep as were his affection and admi- 
ration for Jackson, he would never have presumed 
upon the slightest familiarity. Nor would any other 
officer of his command. 

Yet the tender side of Jackson was often shown 
during his last days in his beloved Winchester. The 
hero-worshipping women of the South often brought 
their children to see him, to receive his blessing, and 
to say when they were grown that the great Jackson 
had put his hands upon their heads. 

Harry and his three comrades of his own age, who 
had been down near the creek, were returning late one 
afternoon to headquarters near the manse, when they 
heard the shout of many childish voices. 

They saw that he was walking again with the min- 
ister, but that he was surrounded by at least a dozen 
little girls, every one of whom demanded in turn that 
he shake her hand. He was busily engaged in this 
task when the whole group passed out of sight into 
the manse. 


6i 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘The Northern newspapers denounce us as pas- 
sionate and headstrong, with all the faults of the 
cavaliers,” said St. Clair. “I only wish they could 
see General Jackson as he is. Lee and Jackson 
come much nearer being Puritans than their gen- 
erals do.” 

Harry that night, as he sat in the little anteroom 
of Jackson’s quarters awaiting orders, heard again the 
low tone of his general praying. The words were not 
audible, but the steady and earnest sound came to him 
for some time. It was late, and all the soldiers were 
asleep or at rest. No sound came from the army, 
and besides Jackson’s voice there was none other, save 
the sighing of the winds down from the mountains. 

Harry, as he listened to the prayer, felt a deep and 
overwhelming sense of solemnity and awe. He felt 
that it was at once a petition and a presage. Sitting 
there in the half dark mighty events were foreshad- 
owed. It seemed to him that they were about to enter 
upon a struggle more terrible than any that had gone 
before, and those had been terrible beyond the antici- 
pation of anybody. 

The omens did not fail. Jackson’s army marched 
the next morning, turning southward along the turn- 
pike in order to effect the junction with Lee and 
Longstreet. All Winchester had assembled to bid 
them farewell, the people confident that the army 
would win victory, but knowing its cost now. 

There was water in Harry’s eyes as he listened to 
the shouts and cheers and saw the young girls wav- 
ing the little Confederate flags. 


62 


JACKSON MOVES 


“If good wishes can do anything,” said Harry, 
“then we ought to win.” 

“So we should. Tm glad to have the good wishes, 
but, Harry, when you’re up against the enemy, they 
can’t take the place of cannon and rifles. Look at 
Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. 
See how straight and precise they are. But both are 
suffering from a deep disappointment. They started 
their chess game again last night, Colonel Talbot to 
make the first move with his king, but before he could 
decide upon any course with that king the orders came 
for us to get ready for the march. The chessmen 
went into the box, and they’ll have another chance, 
probably after we beat Burnside.” 

They went on up the valley, through the scenes of 
triumphs remembered so well. All around them were 
their battlefields of the spring, and there were the 
massive ridges of the Massanuttons that Jackson had 
used so skillfully, not clothed in green now, but with 
the scanty leaves of closing autumn. 

Neither Harry nor any of his comrades knew just 
where they were going. That secret was locked fast 
under the old slouch hat of Jackson, and Harry, like 
all the others, was content to wait. Old Jack knew 
where he was going and what he meant to do. And 
wherever he was going it was the right place to go to, 
and whatever he meant to do was just the thing that 
ought to be done. His extraordinary spell over his 
men deepened with the passing days. 

As they w^ent farther southward they saw sheltered 
slopes of the mountains where the foliage yet glowed 

63 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


in the reds and yellows of autumn, ^‘purple patches” 
on the landscape. Over ridges to both east and west 
the fine haze of Indian summer yet hung. It was a 
wonderful world, full of beauty. The air was better 
and nobler than wine, and the creeks and brooks flow- 
ing swiftly down the slopes flashed in silver. 

There were no enemies herei The people, mostly 
women and children — nearly all the men had gone to 
war^ — came out to cheer them as they passed, and to 
bring them what food and clothing they could. The 
Valley never wavered in its allegiance to the South, 
although great armies fought and trod back and forth 
over its whole course through all the years of the war. 

They turned east and defiled through a narrow pass 
in the mountains, where the sheltered slopes again 
glowed in yellow and gold. Jackson, in somber and 
faded gray, rode near the head of the corps on his 
faithful Little Sorrel, his chin sunk upon his breast, 
his eyes apparently not seeing what was about them, 
the worn face somber and thoughtful. Harry knew 
that the great brain under the old slouch hat was work- 
ing every moment, always working with an intensity 
and concentration of which few men were ever ca- 
pable. Harry, following close behind him, invariably 
watched him, but he could never read anything of 
Jackson’s mind from his actions. 

Then came the soldiers in broad and flowing col- 
umns, that is, they seemed to Harry, in the intense 
autumn light, to flow like a river of men 'and horses 
and steel, beautiful to look on now, but terrible in 
battle. 


64 


JACKSON MOVES 


“We’re better than ever,” said the sober Dalton. 
“Antietam stopped us for the time, but we are stronger 
than we were before that battle.” 

“Stronger and even more enthusiastic,” Harry con- 
curred. “Ah, there goes the Cajun band and the other 
bands and our boys singing our great tune! Listen 
to it!” 

“Southrons hear your Country call you; 

Up, lest worse than death befall you ! 

To arms! To arms! To arms in Dixie! 

Lo! all the beacon fires are lighted — 

Let all hearts now be united! 

To arms ! To arms ! To arms in Dixie !” 

The chorus of the battle song, so little in words, so 
great in its thrilling battle note, was taken up by more 
than a score of thousand, and the vast volume of 
sound, confined in narrow defiles, rolled like thunder, 
giving forth mighty echoes. Harry was moved tre- 
mendously and he saw Jackson himself come out of 
his deep thought and lift up his face that glowed. 

“It’s certainly great,” said Dalton to Harry. “It 
would drag a man from the hospital and send him 
into battle. I know now how the French republican 
troops on the march felt when they heard the Mar- 
seillaise.” 

“But the words don’t seem to me to be the same 
that I heard at Bull Run.” 

“No, they’re not; but what does it matter? That 
thrilling music is always the same, and it’s enough.” 

65 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Already the origin of the renowned battle song was 
veiled in doubt, and different versions of the words, 
were appearing; but the music never changed and 
every step responded to it. 

The army passed through the defile, entered an- 
other portion of the valley, forded a fork of the 
Shenandoah, crossed the Luray Valley, and then en- 
tered the steep passes of the Blue Ridge. Here they 
found autumn gone and winter upon them. As the 
passes rose and the mountains, clothed in pine forest, 
hung over them, the soft haze of Indian summer fled, 
and in its place came a low, gray sky, somber and 
chill. Sharp winds cut them, but the blood flowed 
warm and strong in their veins as they trod the up- 
ward path between the ridges. Once more a verse of 
the defiant Dixie rolled and echoed through the lofty 
and bleak pine forest: 

‘How the South’s great heart rejoices 
At your cannon’s ringing voices ; 

To arms! 

For faith betrayed, and pledges broken. 

Wrongs inflicted, insults spoken 
To arms! 

Advance the flag of Dixie.” 

Now on the heights the last shreds and patches of 
autumn were blown away by the winds of winter. 
The sullen skies lowered continually. Flakes of snow 
whirled into their faces, but they merely bent their 
heads to the storm and marched steadily onward. 
They had not been called Jackson’s Foot Cavalry for 

66 


JACKSON MOVES 


nothing. They were proud of the name, and they 
meant to deserve it more thoroughly than ever. 

‘T take it,” said Dalton to Harry, “that some change 
has occurred in the Northern plans. The Army of 
the Potomac must be marching along in a new line.” 

“So do I. The battle will be fought in lower 
country.” 

“And we will be with Lee and Longstreet in a day 
or two.” 

“So it looks.” 

Jackson stopped twice, a full day each time, for 
rest, but at the end of the eighth day, including the 
two for rest, he had driven his men one hundred and 
twenty miles over mountains and across rivers. They 
also passed through cold and heavy snow, but they 
now found themselves in lower country at the village 
of Orange Court House. The larger town of Fred- 
ericksburg lay less than forty miles away. Harry 
was not familiar with the name of Fredericksburg, 
but it was destined to be before long one that he could 
never forget. In after years it was hard for him to 
persuade himself that famous names were not famous 
always. The name of some village or river or moun- 
tain would be burned into his brain with such force 
and intensity that- the letters seemed to have been 
there since the beginning. 

It lacked but two days of December when they came 
to Orange Court House, but they heard that the 
Northern front was more formidable and menacing 
than ever. Burnside had shown more energy than was 
expected of him. He had formed a plan to march 

67 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


upon Richmond, and, despite the alterations in his 
course, he was clinging to that plan. He had at the 
least, so the scouts said, one hundred and twenty 
thousand men and four hundred guns. The North, 
moreover, which always commanded the water, had 
gunboats in the Rappahannock below Fredericksburg, 
and they would be, as they were throughout the war, 
a powerful arm. 

Harry knew, too, the temper and resolution of the 
North, the slow, cold wrath that could not be checked 
by one defeat or half a dozen. Antietam, as he saw 
it, had merely been a temporary check to the Con- 
federate arms, where the forces of Lee and Jackson 
had fought off at least double their number. The 
Northern men could not yet boast of a single clean- 
cut victory in the battles of the east, but they were 
coming on again as stern and resolute as ever. De- 
feat seemed to serve only as an incentive to them. 
After every one, recruits poured down from the north 
and west to lift anew the flag of the Union. 

There was something in this steady, unyielding re- 
solve that sent a chill through Harry. It was possible 
that men who came on and who never ceased coming 
would win in the end. The South — and he was san- 
guine that such men as Lee and Jackson could not be 
beaten — might wear itself out by the very winning of' 
victories. The chill came again when he counted the 
resources pitted against his side. He was a lad of 
education and great intelligence, and he had no illu- 
sions now about the might of the North and its will- 
ingness to fight. 


68 


JACKSON MOVES 


But youth, in spite of facts, can forget odds as well 
as loss. The doubts that would come at times were 
always dispelled when he looked upon the glorious 
Army of Northern Virginia. It was now nearly 
eighty thousand strong, with an almost unbroken 
record of victory, trusting absolutely in its leadership 
and supremely confident that it could whip any other 
army on the planet. Its brilliant generals were gath- 
ered with Jackson or with Lee and Longstreet. They 
were as confident as their soldiers and no movement 
of the enemy escaped them. Stuart, with his plume 
and sash, at which no man now dared to scoff, hung 
with his horsemen like a fringe on the flank of Burn- 
side's own army, cutting off the Union scouts and 
skirmishers and hiding the plans of Lee. 

Messengers brought news that Burnside would cer- 
tainly cross the Rappahannock, covered by the Union 
artillery, which was always far superior in weight and 
power to that of the South. Harry heard that the 
passage of the river would not be opposed, because 
the Southern army could occupy stronger positions 
farther back, but he did not know whether the rumors 
were true. 

The word now came, and they went forward from 
Orange Court House toward Fredericksburg to join 
Lee and Longstreet. When they marched toward the 
Second Manassas they had suffered from an almost in- 
tolerable heat and dust. Now they advanced through 
a winter that seemed to pour upon them every variety 
of discomfort. Heavy snows fell, icy rains came and 
fierce winds blew. The country was deserted, and 

69 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


the roads beneath the rain and snow and the passage 
of great armies disappeared. Vast muddy trenches 
marked where they had been, and the mud was deep 
and sticky, covering everything as it was ground up, 
and coloring the whole army the same hue. Somber 
and sullen skies brooded over them continually. Not 
even Jackson’s foot cavalry could make much progress 
through such a sea of mud. 

‘'A battle would be a relief,” said Harry, as he rode 
with the Invincibles, having brought some order to 
Colonel Talbot. “There’s nothing like this to take the 
starch out of men. Isn’t that so. Happy?” 

“It depresses ordinary persons like you, Harry,” 
replied Langdon, “but a soul like mine leaps up to 
meet the difficulties. Mud as an obstacle is nothing 
to me. As I was riding along here I was merely 
thinking about the different kinds we have. I note 
that this Virginia mud is tremendously sticky, inclined 
to be red in color, and I should say that on the whole 
it’s not as handsome as our South Carolina mud, espe- 
cially when I see our product at its best. What kind 
of mud do you have in Kentucky, Harry?” 

“All kinds, red, black, brown and every other 
shade.” 

“Well, there’s a lot of snow mixed with this, too. 
I think that at the very bottom there is a layer of 
snow, and then the mud and the snow come in alter- 
nate layers until within a foot of the top, after 
which it’s all mud. Harry, Old Jack doesn’t believe 
it’s right to fight on Sunday, but do you believe it’s 
right to fight in winter, when the armies have to 


70 


JACKSON MOVES 


waste so much strength and effort in getting at one 
another ?” 

He was interrupted by the mellow tones of a bugle, 
and a brilliant troop of horsemen came trotting toward 
them through a field, where the mud was not so deep. 
They recognized Stuart in his gorgeous panoply at 
their head and behind him was Sherburne. 

Stuart rode up to the Invincibles. Colonel Leonidas 
Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire 
gravely saluted the brilliant apparition. 

‘T am General Stuart,” said Stuart, lifting the 
plumed hat, ^'and I am glad to welcome the vanguard 
of General Jackson. May I ask, sir, what regiment 
is this?” 

*Tt is the South Carolina regiment known as the 
Invincibles,” said Colonel Talbot proudly, as he lifted 
his cap in a return salute, ‘‘although it does not now 
contain many South Carolinians. Alas! most of the 
lads who marched so proudly away from Charleston 
have gone to their last rest, and their places have been 
filled chiefly by Virginians. But the Virginians are a 
brave and gallant people, sir, almost equal in fire and 
dash to the South Carolinians.” 

Stuart smiled. He knew that it was meant as 
a compliment of the first class, and as such he 
took it. 

“I think, sir,” he said, “that II am speaking to Colo- 
nel Leonidas Talbot?” 

“You are, sir, and the gentleman on my right is 
the second in command of this regiment, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, a most noble gentleman 


71 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


and valiant and skillful officer. We have met you 
before, sir. You saved us before Bull Run when we 
were beleaguered at a fort in the Valley.’’ 

‘‘Ah, I remember !” exclaimed Stuart. “And a 
most gallant fight you were making. And I recognize 
this young officer, too. He was the messenger who 
met me in the fields. Your hand, Mr. Kenton.” 

He stretched out his own hand in its long yellow 
buckskin glove, and Harry, flushing with pride, shook 
it warmly. 

“It’s good of you, General,” he said, “to remem- 
ber me.” 

“I’m glad to remember you and all like you. Is 
General Jackson near?” 

“About a quarter of a mile farther back, sir. I’m 
a member of his staff, and I’ll ride with you to him.” 

“Thanks. Lead the way.” 

Harry turned with Stuart and Sherburne and they 
soon reached General Jackson, who was plodding 
slowly on Little Sorrel, his chin sunk upon his breast 
as usual, the lines of thought deep in his face. Gen- 
eral Stuart bowed low before him and the plumed hat 
was lifted high. The knight paid deep and willing 
deference to the Puritan. 

Jackson’s face brightened. He wished plain apparel 
upon himself, but he did not disapprove of the reverse 
upon General Stuart. 

“You are very welcome. General Stuart,” he said. 

“I thank you, sir. I have come to report to you, 
sir, that General Burnside’s army is gathering in great 
force on the other side of the Rappahannock, and that 


72 


JACKSON MOVES 


we are massed along the river and back of Fredericks- 
burg/’ 

‘‘General Burnside will cross, will he not?” 

“So we think. He can lay a pontoon bridge, and 
he has a great artillery to protect it. The river, as you 
know, sir, has a width of about two hundred yards at 
Fredericksburg, and the Northern batteries can sweep 
the farther shore.” 

“I’m sorry that we’ve elected to fight at Fredericks- 
burg,” said General Jackson thoughtfully. “The Rap- 
pahannock will protect General Burnside’s army.” 

Stuart gazed at him in astonishment. 

“I don’t understand you, sir,” he said. “You say 
that the Rappahannock will protect General Burnside 
when it seems to be our defense.” 

“My meaning is perfectly clear. When we defeat 
General Burnside at Fredericksburg he will retreat 
across the river over his bridge or bridges and we 
shall not be able to get at him. We will win a great 
victory, but we will not gather the fruits of it, because 
of our inability to reach him.” 

“Oh, I see,” said Stuart, the light breaking on his 
face. “You consider the victory already won, sir?” 

“Beyond a doubt.” 

“Then if you think so. General Jackson, I think 
so, too,” said Stuart, as he saluted and rode away. 


CHAPTER IV 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 

T he division of Jackson reached Fredericks- 
burg the next day and went into camp, partly 
in the rear of the town, and a portion of it 
further down the Rappahannock. Harry, as an aide, 
rode back and forth on many errands while the troops 
were settling into place. Once more he saw General 
Lee on his famous white horse, Traveler, conferring 
with Jackson on Little Sorrel. And the stalwart and 
bearded Longstreet was there, too. 

But Harry’s heart bled when he rode into the an- 
cient town of Fredericksburg, a place homelike and 
picturesque in peaceful days, but now lying between 
two mighty armies, directly within their line of fire, 
and abandoned for a time by its people, all save a 
hardy few. 

The effect upon him was startling. He rode along 
the deserted streets and looked at the closed windows, 
like the eyeless sockets of a blind man. In the streets 
mud and slush and snow had gathered, with no attempt 
of man to clean them away, but the wheels of the can- 
non had cut ruts in them a foot deep. The great white 


74 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 


colonial houses, with their green shutters fastened 
tightly, stood lone and desolate amid their deserted 
lawns. No smoke rose from the chimneys. The shops 
w^ere closed. There was no sound of a child’s voice in 
the whole town. It was the first time that Harry had 
ever ridden through a deserted city, and it was truly 
a city of the dead to him. 

^Tt’s almost as bad as a battlefield after the battle 
is over,” he said to Dalton, who was with him. 

‘Tt gives you a haunted, weird feeling,” said Dal- 
ton, looking at the closed windows and smokeless 
chimneys. 

But the people of Fredericksburg had good cause 
to go. Two hundred thousand men, hardened now to 
war, faced one another across the two hundred yards 
of the Rappahannock. Four hundred Union cannon 
on the other side of the river could easily smash their 
little city to pieces. The people were scattered among 
their relatives in the farmhouses and villages about 
Fredericksburg, eagerly awaiting the news that the 
invincible Lee and Jackson had beaten back the hated 
invader. 

But the Southern army, save for a small force, did 
not occupy Fredericksburg itself. 

Along the low ridge, a mile or so west of the town, 
Longstreet had been posted and he had dug trenches 
and gunpits. The crest of this ridge, called Marye’s 
Hill, was bare, and here, in addition to the pits and 
trenches, Longstreet threw up breastworks. Down 
the slopes were ravines and much timber, making the 
whole position one of great strength. Harry gazed 


75 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


at it as he carried one of his messages from general 
to general, and he was enough of a soldier to know 
that an enemy who attacked here was undertaking a 
mighty task. 

But Burnside did not move, and the somber blanket 
of winter thickened. More snows fell and the icy 
rains came again. Then the mercury slid down until 
it reached zero. Thick ice formed over everything 
and some of the shallower brooks froze solidly in their 
beds. The Southern lads were not nearly so well 
equipped against the winter as their foes. Not many 
had heavy overcoats, and blankets and shoes were thin 
and worn. 

The forest was now their refuge. The river was 
lined thickly with it, running for a long distance, and 
thousands of axes began to bite into the timber. 
Hardy youths, skilled in such work, they rapidly built 
log huts or shelters for themselves, and within these 
or outside under the trees innumerable fires blazed 
along the Rappahannock, the crackling flames send- 
ing a defiance to other such flames beyond the frozen 
river. 

Harry had a letter from Dr. Russell, which had 
come by the way of the mountains and Richmond. 
He had already heard of the terrible day of Perryville 
in Kentucky, and the doctor had been able to confirm 
his earlier news that his father. Colonel Kenton, had 
passed through it safely. But the hostile armies in 
the west had gone down into Tennessee, and there 
were reports that they would soon move toward each 
other for a great battle. It seemed that the rival 

76 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 


forces in both east and west would meet at nearly 
the same time in terrible conflict. 

Dr. Russell told that Dick Mason had been wounded 
in the combat at Perryville, but had been nursed back 
to health by his mother, who with others had found 
him upon the field. He had since gone into Tennessee 
to rejoin the Union army, and his mother had returned 
to Pendleton. 

Harry folded the letter, put it in his pocket, and for 
a while he was very thoughtful. 

It was a great relief to be sure that his father had 
gone safely through Perryville, and that Dick Mason, 
although wounded there, was well again. His heart 
yearned over both. His devotion to his father had 
always been strong and Dick Mason had stood in the 
place of a brother. They were alive for the present 
at least, but Harry knew of the sinister threat that 
hung over the west. The terrible battle that was to 
be fought at Stone River was already sending forth 
its preliminary signals, and for a little while Harry 
thought more of those marching forces in Tennessee 
than of the great army to which he belonged and of 
the one yet more numerous that faced it. 

But these thoughts could not last long. The events 
in which he was to have a part were too imminent 
and mighty for anyone to detach himself from them 
more than a few m.inutes. He quickly returned, heart 
and soul, to his duties, which in these days took all 
his time. Many messages were passing between Lee 
and Jackson and Longstreet and the commanders next 
to them in rank, and Harry carried his share. 


77 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


'A few days after the letter from Dr. Russell the 
cold abated considerably. The ice in the river broke, 
the melting snows made the country a sea of mud and 
slush and horses often became mired so deeply that 
it took a dozen soldiers to drag them out again. It 
was on such a day as this that Dalton came to him, 
his grave face wearing a look of importance. 

“General Jackson has just told me,” he said, “to 
take you and join General Stuart, who is going with 
his horse to the neighborhood of Port Royal on the 
river.” 

“What’s up?” 

“Nothing’s up yet. But we understand that some 
of the Yankee gunboats are trying to get up, now that 
they have a clear passage through the ice.” 

“Cavalry can’t stop them.” 

“No, but Stuart is taking horse artillery with him, 
and he’s likely to make it warm for the enemy. in the 
water. Harry, if we only had a navy, too, this war 
wouldn’t be doubtful.” 

“But, as we haven’t got a navy, it is doubtful, very 
doubtful.” 

They quickly joined General Stuart, who was eager 
for the duty, and falling in line with the troop of 
Sherburne rode swiftly toward Port Royal, the cav- 
alrymen carrying with them several light guns. 

As they galloped along, mixed mud and snow flew 
in every direction, but most of them had grown so 
used to it that they paid little attention. The river 
flowed a deep and somber stream, and all the hills 
about were yet white with snow. At that time, colored 

78 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 


too, as it was by his feelings, it was the most sinister 
landscape that Harry had ever looked upon. Black 
winter and red war, neither of which spared, were 
allied against man. 

But his pulses began to leap when they saw coils of 
black smoke blown a little to one side by the wind. 
He knew that the smoke came from gunboats. They 
must be endeavoring to land troops, and Stuart was 
no man to allow a detached force to pass the Rappa- 
hannock and appear in their rear. 

As the cavalry burst into a gallop from the snowy 
forest Harry saw that he was right. A fleet of gun- 
boats was gathered in the stream and on the far shore 
they were embarking troops. But his quick eye 
caught a horseman on their own side of the river who 
was galloping away. He was already too distant for 
a rifle shot, but Harry instinctively knew that it was 
Shepard. He had seen the man under such extraor- 
dinarily vivid circumstances that the set of his figure 
was familiar. 

Nor was he surprised to behold Shepard now. He 
merely wondered that he had not seen him earlier, so 
great was his activity and daring, and he had no doubt 
that he had brought the gunboats and the Union troops 
warning that Stuart was coming. He was sure of it 
the moment the cavalry emerged’ from the woods, 
because one of the gunboats instantly turned loose 
with two heavy guns which sent shells whistling and 
screaming over their heads. Had they been a little 
better aimed they would have done much destruction, 
and Harry saw at once that they were going to have 


79 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


an ugly time with these saucy little demons of the 
water. 

Another boat fired. One of the cavalrymen was 
killed and several wounded. Stuart promptly drew 
his men back to the edge of the wood, unlimbered and 
posted his cannon. Quick as they were, the black 
wasps on the river buzzed and stung as fast. Shells 
and solid shot were whistling among them and about 
them. They were, good gunners on those boats and 
the men in gray acknowledged it by the rapidity with 
which they took to shelter. 

But Stuart’s blood was at its utmost heat. He had 
no intention of being driven off, and soon his own 
light guns were sending shell and solid shot toward 
the boats, which had relanded their troops on the other 
side, and which were now puffing up and down the 
river like the angry little demons they were, sending 
shells, solid shot, grape and canister into the woods 
and along the slopes where the horsemen had dis- 
appeared. 

Harry and Dalton were glad to dismount and to 
get behind both the trees and the curve of the em- 
bankment. Harry, despite a pretty full experience 
now, could not repress involuntary shivers as the 
deadly steel flew by. He and Dalton had nothing to 
do but hold their horses and watch the combat, which 
they did with the keenest interest. 

Stuart’s cannon had unlimbered in a good place, 
where they were protected partly by a ridge, and their 
deep booming note soon showed the gunboats that they 
had an enemy worthy of their fire. Dalton and Harry 


8o 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 


looked on with growing, excitement. Dalton, for once, 
grew garrulous, talking in an excited monotone. 

“Look at that, Harry!” he cried. “See the water 
spurt right by the bow of that boat! A shell broke 
there! And there goes another! That struck, too! 
See the fallen men on the boat! Look at that little 
black fellow coming right out in the middle of the 
stream! And it got home, too, with that shot! By 
George, how the shell raked our ranks ! Ah, but, you 
saucy little creature, that shell paid you back! See, 
Harry, its wheel is smashed, and it’s floating away 
with the strearn! Guns on land have an advantage 
over guns on the water! As the negro said, ‘When 
the boat blows up, whar are you? But if the explo- 
sion is on dry land, dar you are!’ Ah, another has 
caught it, and is going out of action! Oh my, little 
boats, you’re brave and saucy, but you can’t stand up 
to Stuart’s guns.” 

Dalton was right. The gunboats, sinkable and 
fully exposed, were rapidly getting the worst of it. 
Stuart’s guns, protected by the ridge, were inflicting 
so much damage that they were compelled to drop 
down the stream, two or three of them disabled and 
in tow of the others. 

A covering Union battery of much heavier guns 
opened fire from a hill beyond the river, but it was 
unable either to protect the gunboats or to demolish 
Stuart’s horse artillery, which was sheltered well by 
the ridge. The men in gray began to cheer. It soon 
became obvious that they would win. Gradually all 
of the gunboats, having suffered much loss, dropped 


8i 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


down the stream and passed out of range. The heavy 
battery was also withdrawn from the hill and the de- 
tached attempt to cross the Rappahannock had failed. 

Stuart and his men rode back exultant, but Dalton 
said to Harry that he thought it merely a forerunner. 

‘‘A good omen, you mean?” said Harry. 

‘‘Good, I hope, but I meant chiefly a sign of much 
greater things to come. I’m thinking that Burnside 
will attack in a day or two now. Lots of Northern 
newspapers find their way into our lines, and the whole 
North is urging him on. They demand that a great 
victory be won in the east right away.” 

“I feel sorry for a general who is pushed on like 
that.” 

“So do I, because he hasn’t a ghost of a chance. 
He’ll be able to cross the river under cover of his 
great batteries, but look, Harry, look at those frown- 
ing heights around Fredericksburg, covered with the 
finest riflemen in the world, the ditches and trenches 
sown with artillery, and the best two military brains 
on the globe there to direct. What chance have they, 
Harry? What chance have they?” 

“Very little that I can see, but a battle is never won 
or lost until it’s fought. We’d better report now to 
General Jackson.” 

They saluted General Stuart, and rode away over 
the icy mud. General Jackson received their report 
with pleasure. 

“Excellent! excellent!” he said. “General Stuart 
has routed them with horse artillery ! A capable man ! 
A most wonderful man!” 


82 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 


He said the last words to himself, rather than to 
Harry, and Stuart soon proved that his horse artillery 
was not underrated by winning a second encounter 
with the gunboats a day or two later. Early also beat 
back an attempt to cross the river at a third place, and 
it became apparent now that the Union army could 
make no flanking attack upon its enemy south of the 
Rappahannock. It must be made, if at all, directly 
on its front at Fredericksburg. 

But Harry had no doubt that it would be made. 
The reports of their numerous scouts and spies told 
with detail of the immense preparations going on in 
the Union camp. He could often watch them himself 
with his glasses from the hills. He did not see much 
of St. Clair and Langdon these days, as they remained 
closely with their regiment, the Invincibles, but Dal- 
ton and he were much together. 

It was well into December when they were watch- 
ing through the glasses the concentration of Union 
cannon on Stafford Heights across the river. One 
hundred and fifty great guns were in position there 
and they could easily blow Fredericksburg to pieces. 
Harry looked down again at this little city which had 
jumped suddenly into fame by getting itself squarely 
between the two armies arrayed for battle. 

He felt the old sensation of pity as he gazed at the 
closed shutters and the smokeless chimneys. Nobody 
was stirring in the streets, except some Mississippi 
soldiers who had been placed there to oppose the pas- 
sage, and who were fortifying themselves in the 
houses and cellars along the river front. 

83 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


“It’s no good looking any more,” Harry said to 
Dalton. “There’s nothing to do now but wait. That’s 
what General Jackson is doing. I saw him in his 
tent to-day, reading a book on theology that Dr. Gra- 
ham has just sent him.” 

“You’re right, Harry. If the general can rest, so 
can we. Well, not much of this day is left. See how 
the Yankee batteries are fading away in the twilight.” 

“Yes, Harry, fading now, but they’ll come back 
again, massive metal and as sinister as ever, in the 
morning.” 

“Which won’t keep me from sleeping soundly to- 
night. Funny how you get used to anything. Neither 
the presence nor the absence of the Yankee army will 
interfere with my sleep unless the general wants to 
send me on an errand.” 

“And we also grow used to sights so tremendous 
in their nature that they turn the whole current of 
our history. Look at that winter sun setting there 
over the western hills. It may be my fancy, Harry, 
but it seems to have the colors of bronze and steel in 
it, a sort of menace, one might call it.” 

“I see the same colors, George, but I suppose it’s 
fancy. The whole sky is one of steel to me. I see 
the gleaming of steel everywhere, over the hills, the 
river and the armies.” 

“Our imaginations are too vivid, Harry. But look 
how that darkness closes in on everything! Now the 
Yankee cannon and the Yankee army are gone! The 
river itself is fading, and there goes the town! Now, 
see the lights spring up on the far shore !” 


84 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 


“It’s supper and sleep for me,” said Harry. “It 
doesn’t do to let your imagination run away with you. 
You know that Lee and Old Jack and Jim Longstreet 
have arranged for everything.” 

They ate their suppers, and, the general giving them 
leave, they lay down in the tent next to his, wrapped 
in their blankets. Harry slept soundly, but while the 
pitchy darkness of a winter night still enclosed the 
land he was awakened by a heavy rumbling noise. 
His nerves had been attuned so highly by exciting 
: days that he was awake in an instant and sprang to his 
' feet, Dalton also springing up with equal promptness. 

They saw General Jackson standing in front of his 
tent and peering down in the darkness toward the 
river. Other officers were already gathering near 
him. Harry and Dalton stood at attention, where he 
could see them, if he wished to send them on any 
errand. But Jackson was silent and listening. 

The heavy rumbling reports — cannon shots — came 
again, but they were fired on their side of the river. 

“Gentlemen,” said General Jackson, “the enemy has 
begun the passage. Those are our guns giving the 
signal to the army.” 

Harry’s pulses began to throb. But, although fires 
flared up here and there, little was to be seen in the 
darkness. Fortune seemed to have shifted suddenly 
; to the side of the Union. Not night alone protected 
I the bridge builders, but a thick, impenetrable fog, ris- 
! ing from the river and the muddy earth, covered the 
stream and its shores. The Southerners could not 
see just where the bridge head was and their cannon 

85 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


must fire at random through the heavy darkness. 
Sixteen hundred Mississippians were stationed in 
Fredericksburg below, well concealed in cellars and 
rifle pits, but they could not see either, and for the 
present their rifles were silent. 

But Harry’s imagination immediately became in- 
tensely vivid again. He fancied that he could hear 
through all the shifting gloom the sound of axes and 
hammers and saws at work upon that bridge. These 
army engineers could throw a bridge across a river 
in half a day. He recognized at all times the great 
resources and the mechanical genius of the North. 
The South had good bridge builders herself, but she 
had bent all her powers to the development of public 
men and soldiers. Harry felt more intensely all the 
time the one-sided character of her growth and its 
defects. 

Dalton stood by Harry’s side, and the darkness was 
so intense that he seemed but a shadow. A little fur- 
ther away was Jackson. No fires had been lighted in 
his camp, but nevertheless he was not a shadow. That 
personality, quiet and modest, was so intense, so pow- 
erful that it seemed to Harry to become luminous, to 
radiate light in the blackness of the night. It was 
imagination, he knew, at work again, but it was Jack- 
son who had loosed its springs. 

“Can you see your watch, George?” he whispered 
to Dalton. 

“Yes, and its says only twenty minutes past three 
in the morning.” 

“And our signal guns began about twenty minutes 

86 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 


ago. They will have nearly four hours in which to 
work before the sun rises and we can see them well 
enough to take good aim.’’ 

“And maybe longer than that, Harry. The whole 
night is permeated with the heaviest inland fog I ever 
knew. Maybe it will take the sun a long time to strike 
through it or drive it away. It’s bad for us.” 

“But we’ll win anyhow. I tell you, we’ll win any- 
how! Do you hear me, George?” 

“Yes, Harry, I hear you. You’re excited. So am 
I. There are mighty few who wouldn’t be at such a 
time; but look at the general! He stands like a 
statue !” 

General Jackson did not move, save to lift his glasses 
i now and then, as if with their magnifying powers he 
could pierce the dark. But the night and the swolleni 
fog still hid everything going on beyond the river 
from those on the heights. Down by the shore the 
Mississippians in their rifle pits might see a little, and 
the scouts undoubtedly had seen much, else the signal 
guns would not be firing. 

Harry’s pulses, after a while, began to beat more 
smoothly and there was not such a painful and insis- 
tent drumming in his head. Emotions yielded now to 
will and he waited patiently. General Jackson for 
the first time told some of his young officers that they 
I could lie down and rest. 

“There can be no action before daylight,” he said, 

I “and it’s best to be fresh and ready.” 
i He spoke to them with the grave kindness that he 

i always used, save when some great fault was com- 

i 

I 87 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


mitted, and then his words burned like fire. Harry 
and Dalton procured their blankets from their tents, 
wrapped them about their bodies and lay down on the 
dryest spots they could find, but they had no thought 
of sleep. They permitted their limbs to relax, and 
that was a help to the nerves, but neither closed his 
eyes. 

Those dark hours seemed an eternity to Harry. 
The floating fog seemed to grow thicker and to enter 
his very bones. He shivered and drew the blanket 
close. Now, with his ears close to the earth, he was 
sure that he could hear the axes and the saws and the 
hammers beating on steel rivets on the other side of 
the Rappahannock. 

The Confederate cannon still fired the signals of 
alarm at regular intervals, but the night and the fog 
always closed in again quickly over the flash that the 
discharge had made. After a while a murmur came 
from the long Southern line along the heights and on 
the ridges. Horses stirred here and there, cannon, 
moved to new positions, made sighing sounds as their 
wheels sank in the mud ; sabres and bayonets clanked, 
thousands of men whispered to one another. All these 
varying sounds united into one great soft voice which 
was like the murmur of a wind through the summer 
night. 

Toward five o’clock in the morning, when the dark- 
ness had not diminished a whit, a messenger from 
General Lee rode up with a note for General Jackson. 
It merely stated that all was ready and to hold the 
positions that he had taken up the night before. 


88 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 

Jackson wrote a brief reply by the light of a lantern 
that an orderly held, and the messenger galloped away 
with it. It was the only incident that had occurred 
in a long time. 

“They’re not using many lights on the other side 
of the river,” said Harry, although he noted an occa- 
sional flame in the darkness. “Of course, they want 
to hide their bridge building, but you’d think they’d 
have fires burning elsewhere.” 

“They’ve learned the value of caution,” said Dalton. 
“I’m bound to say they’re going about the first part 
of their work with skill.” 

He spoke with the calm superiority of a young 
officer. 

Harry took out his own watch, and by holding it 
close to his eyes was able to read its face. 

“A quarter to six,” he said. “According to the 
watch it is less than three hours since we first heard 
those alarm guns, but my five known senses and all the 
unknown tell me that it has been at least a week.” 

“In an hour we should see something,” said Dalton. 
“Confound this fog. If it weren’t so thick we could 
see now.” 

Harry’s pulses began to beat hard again in the 
next hour. He strove with glasses even for a glimpse 
of the winter sun which he knew would come so late, 
but as yet the fog showed nothing save a faint lumi- 
nous tinge low down in the east. An orderly brought 
food to them, and while they ate they saw the luminous 
tinge broaden and deepen. 

“The sun’s rising behind that fog,” said Dalton, 

89 


/ 

THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 

“but here comes a little wind that will drive away the 
fog or thin it out so we can see.” 

“Yes, I feel it,” said Harry, “and you can see the 
dull, somber red of the sun trying to break through. 
Look, George, unless Lm mistaken the fog’s moving 
down the river !” 

“So it is, there’s the flash of the stream, the color 
of steel, and by all the stars, there’s their bridge two- 
thirds of the way across !” 

Heavier puffs of wind came and the fog billowed 
off down the river. The whole gigantic theater of 
action sprang at once into the light. There were the 
two great armies clustered on opposing ridges, there 
was the deserted town, there was the deep river, the 
color of lead, flowing between the foes, two-thirds of 
its width already spanned by the Union bridge, the 
bridge itself covered with workmen, and boats swarm- 
ing by its side. 

Harry felt a thrill and a shudder which were almost 
simultaneous. Then came a deep muffled roar from 
the two armies on the ridges looking at each other. 
But as the roar died it was succeeded by the rapid, 
stinging fire of rifles. The Mississippians in their pits 
and cellars near the bank of the river were sending a 
hail of bullets upon the bridge builders. 

The rest of the Southern army stood by and watched. 
Harry knew that Lee and Jackson would make their 
chief defense on the ridges, but the Mississippians 
were there to keep the enemy from being too forward. 
So deadly were their rifles that every workman fled 
off the bridge to the Union shore, save those who 


90 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 


were struck down upon it, falling into the water. 

Then came a pause, a period of intense waiting, 
short, but seemingly long, even to the veteran gen- 
erals, after which the gallant builders, who truly de- 
served the name of the bravest of the brave, ventured 
again upon the bridge in the face of those terrible 
Mississippi rifles. A blast of death again blew upon 
them. Bullets in hundreds struck upon bodies or rat- 
tled on timbers. The workmen could not live in the 
face of such a fire, and those who had not been slain 
retreated again to their own side of the stream. A 
third time the heroic bridge builders returned to their 
work, and a third time they were driven back by the 
deadly Mississippi hail. Harry felt pity for them. 

‘T never saw anything braver,” he said to Dalton. 

‘‘Nor did I, Harry, nor anything more useless. The 
bridge builders never had a chance before the rifles. 
But now their supports, which should have been there 
all the time, are coming up.” 

Heavy columns of Union riflemen moved forward 
to the edge of the river and replied to the Mississip- 
pians. But the Southerners, in the shelter of the cel- 
lars and pits, held their ground. But few of them 
were hit and they kept up that deadly hail which swept 
the uncompleted bridge clear of every workman who 
attempted to go upon it. 

The rapid fire of the rifles crashed up and down 
both sides of the river, two sheets of flame seeming 
to reach out as if they would meet each other. The 
wind that had driven away the fog also carried off 
the smoke, and the river still gleamed like steel be- 


91 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


tween. Then, as the rifle fire died again, there was 
another silence for a while. 

‘Tt will take more than rifles,” said Harry, ‘'to 
drive out those intrenched Mississippians.” 

“So it will, Harry,” said Dalton, who was watch- 
ing through glasses, “and here it comes. Their great 
batteries are about to open.” 

The next instant the whole earth seemed to be 
shaken by the roar of heavy cannon. The opposing 
hills and ridges fairly poured forth flame, and shells 
and solid shot crashed upon the whole devoted town. 
Nor did this tremendous fire from a hundred and fifty 
great guns cease for an instant. The roar and crash 
were appalling. Harry saw houses crumbling in Fred- 
ericksburg, with flames leaping up from others. 

The artillery of Longstreet immediately facing the 
Union batteries was too light and weak to reply, and 
the gunners remained quiet in their trenches while the 
storm rained its showers of steel upon the town. Yet 
the Mississippians in the rifle pits held fast, their 
earthen shelters protecting them. While the bombard- 
ment was at its very height workmen ran out on the 
bridge for the fourth time to complete it, and while 
the shells and solid shot were whistling over their 
heads, the rifles of the Mississippians once more swept 
it clean. Flarry groaned. He could not help it at the 
sight of men so brave who were cut down like grass 
by the scythe. Then his attention turned away from 
the bridge to the mighty cannonade which seemed to 
be growing in volume. The wind took much of the 
smoke across the river and it floated in a great cloud 


92 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 


over Fredericksburg, through which shot the flames of 
the burning buildings. 

But the main army of the South, stretched along a 
front of six miles, remained silent. Jackson on the 
right scarcely moved, but all the while he attentively 
watched through his glasses the great cannonade. 
Nearly all the soldiers were lying down, and to most 
of them the earth seemed to heave with the shock of 
all those blazing cannon. 

Harry and Dalton walked once to the point where 
the Invincibles lay. That is, all but Colonel Leonidas 
Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire were lying 
down. They stood rigidly erect, their eyes on the 
great cannonade, and as Harry approached they were 
exchanging brief comments with each other. 

‘‘What harm does that cannonade do. Hector?” 
asked Colonel Talbot. 

“Much to the town, little to us.” 

“What a pity we don’t have an artillery equal to 
theirs.” 

; “A great pity, Leonidas.” 

“They will presently move forward in much greater 
force to finish the bridge.” 

“ijndoubtedly, Leonidas. They have shown folly, 
wasting the lives of such brave men in small efforts 
f one after another. They will try something else.” 

I “I see a great many boats against the bank on their 
i side of the river. I fancy they will use them in their 
I next attempt, whatever it may be.” 
i “I agree with you. Good morning. Lieutenant 
j Kenton. A mighty and appalling sight.” 


93 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘Truly it is, sir,” said Harry, saluting the two 
officers. 

“The Yankees will force the passage,” said Colonel 
Talbot. “Our artillery is not strong enough to reply 
to their covering cannonade. We are glad to see you 
safe and whole, Harry. You’ll find your friends 
lying in that ravine just behind us.” 

It was a rather deep ravine, and when Harry looked 
over its edge, St. Clair and Langdon^ greeted him 
gladly. 

“Come down, Harry,” said Langdon, “and be joy- 
ful. This gully is pretty well dried out and you can - 
rest. We’ve got a West Point fellow here and he’s 
humming one of his old songs to about the biggest . 
chorus a song ever had. Captain Swayne, Lieutenant 
Kenton, once of the Invincibles, but now of General 
Jackson’s personal staff. Swayne’s from Tennessee, ^ 
Harry, and you two are well met. Swayne belongs 
to a regiment a few yards beyond the gully. He was ‘jj! 
at the Seven Days and the Second Manassas. We j 
three thought we won those battles ourselves, but it 1 
seems that Swayne was at both all the time, helping us. 
Take off your cap, Harry, and thank the gentleman.” V? 

Swayne, a slender, fair man, not over twenty-three, ^ 
smiled and extended a hearty hand, which Harry re- .^ 
ceived with equal heartiness. The smile turned into^- 
a slight twinkle. 

“I’ve been glad to meet your friends here, Mr. : 
Kenton,” he said, “but the meeting has brought a dis- 
appointment with it.” ' 

“How’s that ?” 

f 


94 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 


‘‘Until we began talking I thought I had won the 
Seven Days and the Second Manassas all by myself. 
Now, it seems that I have to share the honors with you 
fellows.” 

“So you do,” said Langdon, and then he sang: 

“There comes a voice from Florida, 

From Tampa’s lonely shore. 

It speaks of one we’ve lost, 

O’Brien is no more. 

In the land of sun and flowers. 

His head lies pillowed low. 

No more he’ll drink the gin cocktail. 

At Benjamin Haven’s, Oh! 

At Benny Haven’s, Oh I 
At Benny Haven’s, Oh!” 

“Do I get it right, Swayne? Remember that I 
heard you sing it only three times.” 

“Fine! Fine!” said Swayne with enthusiasm. 
“You have it right, or as near right as need be, and 
you’re using it in a much better voice than I can.” 

“I’m a great soldier, but my true place is on the 
operatic stage,” said Langdon modestly. 

“It’s an old West Point song of ours, Kenton,” 
said Swayne. “While I was lying here listening to 
the continued roar of all those great guns, I couldn’t 
keep from humming it as a sort of undernote.” 

“This gully has a queer effect,” said St. Clair, who, 
lying on a blanket, was dusting every minute particle 
of dried mud from his uniform. “It seems to soften 
the sounds of all those guns — and they must be a 


95 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


couple of hundred at least. It produces a kind of 
harmony.” 

“It’s the old god Vulcan and a thousand assistants 
of his hammering away on their anvils,” said Harry, 
“and they hammer out a regular tune.” 

“Besides hammering out a tune,” said St. Clair, 
“they’re also hammering out swords and bayonets to 
be used against us.” 

As he spoke he drew from his pocket a tiny round 
mirror, not more than three inches in diameter, and 
carefully examined the collar of his coat. 

“Have you found a speck, Arthur?” asked Lang- 
don. “If I hadn’t seen you risk your life fifteen or 
twenty thousand times I’d say you’re a dandy.” 

“I am a dandy,” said St. Clair. “At least, I mean 
to be one, if I come out of the war alive.” 

“What do you intend to wear?” asked Harry. 

“Depends upon what I can afford. If I have the 
money, it’s going to be the best, the very best any 
market can afford.” 

“A dozen suits, I suppose.” 

“At least as many, with hats, shoes, overcoats, 
cloaks, shirts and all the et ceteras to match. Why 
shouldn’t I wear fine clothes if I want ’em? Do you 
demand that instead I spend it on fiery whisky to pour 
down me, as so many public men and leading citizens 
do ? The clothes at least don’t burn me out and finally 
burn me to death.” 

Langdon put up his hands in defense. 

“I haven’t jumped on you, Arthur,” he said. “I 
admire you, though I can’t equal you. And as I’m 

96 


ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 


not willing to be second even to you, I’m going to 
our sea island, near the Carolina coast, when this war 
is over, lie down under the shade of a live oak, have 
our big colored man, Sam, to bring me luxurious food 
about once every three hours, and between these three- 
hour periods I’ll be fanned by Julius, another big 
colored man of ours, and I won’t make any exer- 
tion except to tell day by day to admiring visitors 
how I whipped the Yankees every time I could get 
near enough to see ’em, and how a lot more were 
scared to death just because they heard me crashing 
through the brush.” 

‘‘You’ll do the bragging part, all right. Happy,” 
said St. Clair. “I believe you could keep up the sort 
of existence you describe for a year at least.” 

“I’d like to try. Now, what under the stars is 
that?” 

Nothing had happened. Something had merely 
ceased to happen. The great cannonade had stopped 
in an instant, as if by a preconcerted signal, and their 
nerves, attuned so long to such a continuous roar, 
seemed to collapse, because some support was with- 
drawn. Harry’s face turned white and his heart beat 
very fast, but in a few moments he recovered himself. 

“I suppose they’ve given it up for the time being,” 
he said, “but they’re sure to try it again in some 
other way.” 

“That’s a safe prediction,” said St. Clair. “Burn- 
side is trying to get across the Rappahannock to attack 
us, because the whole North is driving him on, and 
he hasn’t got the moral courage to hold back until he 


97 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


can choose his time and place. Funny how this silence 
oppresses one.” 

The whole Southern army, along its six miles of 
length, was now standing up and looking toward the 
point on the other shore of the Rappahannock where 
the Union batteries were massed. All work seemed 
to have been abandoned there, although the troops 
were still clustered along the shore and about the 
bridge head. Clouds of smoke from the great bat- 
teries floated down the river. 

‘‘A Yankee failure so far, Harry,” said Colonel 
Leonidas Talbot. “The bridge has advanced no fur- 
ther, and I should say that our shore is now enriched 
by about fifty thousand pounds of steel hurled from 
those batteries and with little harm to us.” 

“I’ve no doubt you’re right, sir,” said Harry, “and 
now that a period of rest has come, I shall hurry back 
to General Jackson, who may need me to carry some 
order.” 

“A moment, please, Harry, my boy,” said Colonel 
Talbot, twirling his mustaches. “You are near to 
General Jackson, of course, being his personal aide. 
If it should fall out conveniently, would you do my- 
self and my most excellent friend and second, Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, a small favor?” 

“Of course, Colonel. Gladly. What is it?” 

“If the enemy should cross the river, as he prob- 
ably will, and if you should be near enough to Lieu- 
tenant-General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, and if the 
moment should be propitious, would you kindly whis- 
per in his ear that the skeleton regiment, known as 

98 


I 

! ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK 

the Invincibles, Leonidas Talbot, Colonel, and Hector 
I St. Hilaire, Lieutenant-Colonel, would be overjoyed at 
1 the honor of leading the attack upon the intrusive and 
I invading Yankee army ?” 

“Promise, Harry, promise!” seconded Lieutenant- 
: Colonel Hector St. Hilaire in his softest and most 
persuasive South Carolina accent. “You really owe 
that to US;” 

“I promise gladly,” replied Harry; “but you know 
‘ what General Jackson is. He makes his plans with- 
out telling anybody what they are, and he carries them 
out. If it is a part of his plan for the Invincibles to 
lead the attack, so far as his division is concerned, 
you’ll lead it. If not, you won’t.” 

“But still a word in his ear might have some influ- 
ence,” persisted Colonel Talbot. “It might come at 
the very moment when he was hesitating over a choice, 
and it would probably decide him in our favor.” 

“Then I shall do my best, sir,” said Harry. “You 
can rely upon me.” 

He returned to General Jackson, but found that his 
: commander was yet inactive. He was still waiting 
and watching with a patience that seemed equal to 
that of the Sphinx. Noon came, food was served, 
and the hours trailed their slow length on. 

Then they saw a great movement in the Union 
army. The Northern generals were about to make 
their supreme effort. Hooker, who had shown such 
[desperate courage at Antietam and who had won the 
[name of Fighting Joe, called for men who would cross 
ithe river in boats under the fire of the Mississippi 


99 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


rifles. It looked like certain death, but four entire 
regiments came forward at once. They entered the 
boats, which promptly pulled for the right bank, and 
the great batteries at once opened a covering fire. 

The Mississippians once more sent forth their hail 
of bullets, but the boats were so numerous that, al- 
though some were stopped, the majority came on. 
Man after man, shot through, fell over the sides into 
the deep river. Sometimes a boat itself sank, but the 
main force rapidly approached the Southern side. 

‘‘They have lost many men, but they will make the 
crossing at last, Harry,” said Dalton. 

“So it seems,” said Harry. “I suppose our generals 
could bring up enough men to drive them back, but 
it looks as if they don’t want to do it.” 

“It may be that they’re holding the trap open for 
the victim to walk in.” 

“However it may be, they’re across. See, they’re 
landing in thousands, and the Mississippians, leaving 
their rifle pits, are retreating. Now they can finish 
the bridge and as many more as they need at their 
leisure.” 

The retreating Mississippians rejoined their com- 
rades, and still the Southern army did not stir. The 
Northern army, almost unmolested, continued its 
bridge building, and the afternoon and a dark night 
passed. 


I CHAPTER V 

I FREDERICKSBURG 

B efore night the Union army had three 
bridges across the Rappahannock, and before 
morning it had six. The regiment that had 
crossed held the right bank of the river, that is, the 
;side of the South, and the boats moved freely back 
land forth in the stream. 

Yet the main army itself did not yet begin the 
crossing. Harry slept a few hours before and after 
midnight, lying in the lee of a little ridge and wrapped 
in a pair of heavy blankets, but as he wakened from 
time to time he heard little from the river. There 
were no sounds to indicate that great streams of armed 
men with their cannon were pouring over the bridges. 
After the tremendous cannonade of the afternoon the 
night seemed very quiet and peaceful. 

Fires were burning here and there, but they were 
not many. The Confederate generals did not care to 
furnish beacons for the enemy. When Harry stood 
up he could catch glimpses of the river, the color of 
steel again, but the farther bank, where the great army 
of the foe yet lay, was buried in darkness. He won- 


lOI 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


dered why Burnside was not using every hour of the 
night for crossing, but he remembered how the same 
general had delayed so long at Antietam that Lee and 
Jackson were able to save themselves. 

He became conscious that it was growing much 
colder again. The zero weather of a few days since 
was returning. Every light puff of wind was like 
the stab of an icicle. He was glad that he had a pair 
of blankets and that they were heavy ones, too. But 
he did not ask anything more. It was remarkable 
how fast the youth of both North and South became 
inured to every form of privation. They lived almost 
like the primitive man, and many thrived on it. 

When he last awoke, about four o’clock in the morn- 
ing, he did not lie down to sleep again; he walked to 
the edge of the slope and stared once more toward 
the river and the Union camp. He found Dalton 
already there, closely examining the river and the 
shores with his glasses. 

*‘What do you see, George?” Harry asked. 

‘‘Not much; they’ve got all the bridges now they 
need, but they’re not using them. Why, Harry, the 
battle’s won already. Lee and Jackson don’t merely 
fight. Plenty of generals are good fighters, but our 
leaders measure and weigh the generals who are com- 
ing against them, look right inside of them, and read 
their minds better than those generals can read them 
themselves.” 

‘T believe you’re right, George. And since Burn- 
side is not crossing to-night, he can’t attack in the 
morning.” 


102 


FREDERICKSBURG 


‘'Of course not. Lee and Jackson knew all the time 
that he’d waste a day. They knew it by the way he 
delayed at Antietam, and they’ve been reading his 
mind all the time he’s been sitting here on the banks 
of the Rappahannock. They knew just where he’d 
attack, just when, too, and they’ll have everything 
ready at the right point and at the right time.” 

“Of course they will.” 

They were but boys, and the great tactics and bril- 
liant victories of Lee and Jackson had overwhelmed 
the imaginations of both. In their minds all things 
seemed possible to their leaders, and they had not the 
least fear about the coming battle. 

They walked back toward their general’s tent and 
saw him sitting on a log outside. The night was not 
so dark as the one before. A fair moon and clusters 
of modest stars furnished some light. The general 
was gazing toward Stafford Heights, tapping his boot- 
leg at times with a little switch. But he turned his 
gaze upon the two boys as they came forward and 
saluted respectfully. 

“Well, lads,” he said in a voice of uncommon gen- 
tleness, “what have you seen?” 

“Nothing, sir, but the river and the dark shore be- 
yond,” replied Dalton. 

“But the enemy will cross to-morrow, and they say 
they will annihilate us.” 

“I think, sir, that they will recross the Rappahan- 
nock as fast as they will cross it.” 

Dalton spoke boldly, because he saw that Jackson 
was leading him on. 


103 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘The right spirit,” said Jackson quietly. ‘T see it 
throughout the army, and so long as it prevails we 
cannot lose.” 

Then he turned his glasses again toward the river 
and paid them no further attention. Officers of 
greater age and much higher rank came near, but he 
ignored them also. His whole soul seemed to be ab- 
sorbed in the searching examination that he was mak- 
ing of the river and the opposite shore. Harry and 
Dalton watched him a little while and then went back 
to the shelter of the ridge, where, sitting with their 
backs against the earth, they, too, took up the task 
of watching. 

The earth was frozen hard now, but toward morn- 
ing they saw the fog rising again. 

‘Tt will cover the river, the far shore, and what’s 
left of the town,” said Dalton, “but what do we care? 
They’ll be protected by it as they advance on the 
bridges, but they wouldn’t dare move through it to 
attack us here on the heights.” 

“Here’s the dawn again,” said Harry. “I can see 
the ghost of the sun over there trying to break 
through, but as there’s no wind now the fog’s going to 
hang heavy and long.” 

Breakfast was served once more to the waiting army 
on the heights, and then the youths in gray saw that 
the Union army, having let the night pass, was be- 
ginning to cross the river. When the dawn finally 
came many regiments were already over and the 
wheels of the heavy cannon were thundering on the 
bridges. But the Confederate army lay quiet on the 


104 


FREDERICKSBURG 


heights, although before morning it had drawn itself 
in somewhat, shortening the lines and making itself 
more compact. 

''Look how they pour over the bridges !” said Harry, 
who stood glass to eye. "They come in thousands 
and thousands, regiments, brigades and whole divi- 
sions. Why, George, it looks as if the whole North 
were swarming down upon us!’' 

"They’re a hundred and twenty thousand strong. 
We know that positively, and they’re as brave as any- 
body. But we’re eighty thousand strong, just sitting 
here on the heights and waiting. Dick, they’ll cross 
that river again soon, and when they go back they’ll 
be far less than a hundred and twenty thousand!” 

He spoke with no sign of exultation. Instead it 
was the boding tone of an old prophet, rather than 
the sanguine voice of youth. 

The fog deepened for a little while, and then some 
of the marching columns were hidden. Out of the 
mists and gloom came the quick music of many bands, 
playing the Northern brigades on to death. Then 
the fog lifted again, and along the heights ran the 
blaze of the Southern cannon as they sent shot and 
shell into the black masses of the Union troops crowd- 
ing by Fredericksburg. 

But as the echoes of the shots died away, Harry 
heard again the bands playing, and from the great 
Northern army below came mighty rolling cheers. 

"The battle is here now, Harry,” said Dalton, "and 
this is the biggest army we’ve ever faced.” 

The Union brigades, black in the somber winter 


105 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


dawn, seemed endless to Harry. From.the point where 
he stood the advancing columns as they crossed the 
river looked almost solid. He knew that men must 
be falling, dead or wounded, beneath the fire of the 
Southern guns, but the living closed up so fast that 
he could not see any break in the lines. 

‘‘You can’t see any sign of hesitation there,” said 
Dalton. 'The Northern generals may doubt and lin- 
ger, but the men don’t when once they get the word. 
What a tremendous and thrilling sight! It may be 
wicked in me, Harry, but since there is a war and 
battles are being fought. I’m glad I’m here to see it.” 

"So am I,” said Harry. "It’s something to feel 
that you’re at the heart of the biggest things going 
on in the world. Now we’ve lost ’em!” 

His sudden exclamation was due to a shift of the 
wind, bringing back the fog again and covering the 
river, the town and the advancing Union army. The 
Confederate cannon then ceased firing, but Harry 
heard distinctly the sounds made by scores of thou- 
sands of men marching, that measured tread of count- 
less feet, the beat of hoofs, the rumbling of cannon 
wheels over roads now frozen hard, and the music of 
many bands still playing. The thrill was all the keener 
when the great army became invisible in the fog, al- 
though the mighty hum and murmur of varied sounds 
proved that it was still marching there. 

Jackson was on the right of Lee’s line. He would 
be, as usual, in the thick of it. His fighting line ran 
through deep woods, and he was protected, moreover, 
by the slope up which the Union troops would have 

io6 


FREDERICKSBURG 


to come, if they got near enough. Fourteen guns, 
guarded by two regiments, were on Prospect Hill at 
his extreme right, and on his left the ravine called 
Deep Run divided him from the command of Long- 
street, which spread away toward Marye’s Hill. 

Jackson’s own line was a mile and a half long and 
he had thirty thousand men, while Longstreet and the 
others had fifty thousand more. Lee himself, direct- 
ing the whole, rode along the lines on his white horse, 
and whenever the men saw him cheers rolled up and 
down. But Lee had little to say. All that needed to 
be said had been said already. 

Harry saw the great commander riding along that 
morning as calmly as if he were going to church. 
Lee, grave, imperturbable, was the last man to show 
emotion, but Harry thought once that he caught a 
gleam from the blue eye as he spoke a word or two 
with Jackson and went on. As he passed near them, 
Harry, Dalton and all the other young officers took 
off their hats, saluted and stood in silence. General 
Lee raised his own hat in return, and rode back toward 
the division of Longstreet. 

Harry glanced toward General Jackson, who was 
also mounted. But he did not move and the reins lay 
loose on the animal’s neck. Once the horse dropped 
his head and nuzzled under some leaves for a few 
blades of sheltered grass that had escaped the winter. 
But the general took no notice. He kept his glasses 
to his eyes and watched every movement of the enemy, 
when the fog lifted enough for him to see. Presently 
he beckoned to Harry. 


107 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘‘Ride over to General Stuart/' he said, “and see 
if he has made any change in his lines. It is impor- 
tant that our formation be preserved intact and that 
no gaps be left." 

Then General Jackson himself rode to another ele- 
vation for a different view, and the soldiers, from 
whom he had been hidden before by the fog, gazed at 
him in amazement. The gorgeous uniform that Stuart 
had sent him, worn only once before, and which they , 
had thought discarded forever, had been put on again. 
The old slouch hat was gone, and another, magnificent 1 
with gold braid, looped and tasseled, was in its place. 
Instead of the faithful pony. Little Sorrel, he rode a : 
big charger. 

Usually cheers ran along the line whenever he ap- 
peared upon the eve of battle, but for a little space , 
there was silence as the men gazed at him, many of 
them not even knowing him. Jackson flushed and 
looked down apologetically at the rich cloth and gold • 
braid he wore. His eyes seemed to say, “Boys, I’ve 
merely put these on in honor of the victory we’re 
going to win. But I won’t do it again.’’ j 

Then the cheers burst forth, spontaneous and ring- j 
ing, proving a devotion that few men have ever been 
able to command. Stern and unflinching as Jackson 
invariably was in inflicting punishment, his soldiers 
always regarded him as one of themselves, the best 
man among them, one fitted by nature to lead demo- 
cratic equals. After the cheers were over they i 
watched him as he looked through the glasses from ■ 
his new position. But he stayed there only a min- 

io8 


FREDERICKSBURG 


ute or two, going back then to his old point of van- 
tage. 

Harry meanwhile had reached Stuart, who, mounted 
upon a magnificent horse and clad in a uniform that 
fairly glittered through the fog itself, was waiting 
restlessly. But he had not changed any part of his 
line. Everything remained exactly as Jackson had 
ordered. He now knew Harry well and always called 
[ him by his first name. 

''Have you an order ?” he exclaimed eagerly. "Does 
' General Jackson want us to advance?” 

"He has said nothing about an advance,” replied 
Harry tactfully. "He merely wanted me to ride down 
the line and report to him on the spirit of the soldiers 
as far as I could judge. He knew that your men, 
General, would be hard to hold.” 

Stuart threw back his head, shook his long yellow 
' hair and laughed in a pleased way. 

: "General Jackson was right about my men,” he said. 

"Its hard to keep them from galloping into the battle, 

I and my feelings are with them. Yet we’ll have all 
[ the fighting we want. Look at the great masses of 
the Union army!” 

The fog had lifted again and the Northern columns 
were still advancing, marching boldly against the in- 
trenched foe, although nearly every one of their gen- 
erals save Burnside himself knew that it was a hope- 
less task. In all the mighty events of the war that 
Harry witnessed few were as impressive to him as 
this solemn and steady march of the Union army, 
heads erect and bands playing, into the jaws of death. 


109 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


He stayed only a few moments with Stuart, re- 
turning direct to Jackson. On his way he passed 
Sherburne, who, with his troop, was on Stuart’s ex- 
treme left flank. Harry leaned over, shook hands 
with him, nothing more, and rode on. With the lift- 
ing of the fog the Southern guns were again sending 
shot and sell into the blue masses. Then, from the 
other side of the river, the great Union batteries left 
on Stafford Heights began to hurl showers of steel 
toward the hostile ridges a little more than a mile 
and a half away. It was long range for those days, 
but the Union gunners, always excellent, rained shot 
and shell upon the Southern position. 

Harry, used now to such a fire, went calmly on 
until he rejoined Jackson, who accepted with a nod 
his report that Stuart had not changed his lines any- 
where. The general signed to him and the rest of 
the staff as they rode toward the center of the South- 
ern line. Harry did not know their errand, but he 
surmised that they were to meet General Lee for the 
final conference. The general said no word, but rode 
steadily on. Union skirmishers, under cover of the 
fog and bushes, had crept far in advance of their 
columns, and, as the fog continued to thin away and 
the day to brighten, they saw Jackson and his staff. 

Harry heard bullets whistling sinister little threats 
in his ear as they passed, and he heard other bullets 
pattering on the trees or the earth. They alarmed 
him more than the huge cannon thundering away from 
the other side of the river. But the fog, although thin, 
was still enough to make the aim of the skirmishers 


no 


FREDERICKSBURG 


bad, and General Jackson and his staff went on their 
i way unhurt. 

They reached a little hill near the middle of the 
Southern bent bow. It had no name then, but it is 
called Lee’s Hill now, because at nine o’clock that 
! morning General Lee, mounted on his white horse, 
was upon its crest awaiting his generals, to give them 
his last instructions. Longstreet was already there, 
and, just as Jackson came, the fog thinned away en- 
tirely and the sun began to blaze with a heat almost 
like that of summer, rapidly thawing the hard earth. 

The young officers on the different staffs reined 
i back, while their chiefs drew together. Yet for a 
; few moments no one said anything. Harry always 
I believed that the veteran generals were moved as he 
: was by the sight below. The great banks of white 
I fog were rolling away down the river before the light 
wind and the brilliant sun. 

Now Harry saw the Army of the Potomac in its 
: full majesty. On the wide plain that lay on the south 
bank of the Rappahannock nearly a hundred thousand 
men were still advancing in regular order, with scores 
; and scores of cannon on their flanks or between the 
columns. The army which looked somber black in 
the misty dawn now looked blue in the brilliant sun. 
The stars and stripes, the most beautiful flag in the 
world, waved in hundreds over their heads. The 
bands were still playing, and the great batteries which 
they had left on Stafford Heights across the river con- 
tinued that incessant roaring fire over their heads at 
the Southern army on its own heights. The smoke 


III 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


from the cannon, whitish in color, drifted away down 
the river with the fog, and the whole spectacle still 
remained in the brilliant sunlight. 

Harry’s respect for the Union artillery, already 
high, increased yet further. The field was now mostly 
open, where all could see, and the gunners not only 
saw their targets, but were able to take good aim. 
The storm of shot and shell from Stafford Heights 
was frightful. It seemed to Harry — again his imagi- 
nation was alive — that the very air was darkened by 
the rush of steel. Despite their earthworks and other 
shelter the Southern troops began to suffer from that 
dreadful sleet, but the little conference on Lee’s Hill 
went on. 

Longstreet, sitting his horse steadily, looked long 
at the dense masses below. 

“General,” he said to General Jackson, “doesn’t that 
myriad of Yankees frighten you?” 

“It won’t be long before we see whether we shall 
frighten them,” replied Jackson. 

General Lee said a few words, and then Jackson 
and Longstreet returned to their respective divisions, 
Jackson, as Harry noted, showing not the least ex- 
citement, although the resolute Union general, Frank- 
lin, with nearly sixty thousand men and one hundred 
and twenty guns, was marching directly against his 
own position. 

But Harry felt excitement, and much of it. In 
front of Jackson in a great line of battle, a mile and 
a half long, they were moving forward, still in per- 
fect array. But there was something wanting in that 


II2 


FREDERICKSBURG 


huge army. It was the lack of a great animating 
spirit. There was no flaming flag, like the soul of 
Jackson, to wave in the front of a fiery rush that could 
not be stopped. 

The blue mass hesitated and stopped. Out of it 
came three Pennsylvania brigades led by Meade, who 
was to be the Meade of Gettysburg, and less than 
five thousand strong they advanced against Jackson. 
Harry was amazed. Could it be possible that they 
did not know that Jackson with his full force was 
there ? 

The Pennsylvanians charged gallantly. The young 
General Pelham, who had been sent forward with two 
pieces of artillery, opened on them fiercely, but the 
heavy batteries covering the advance of the Pennsyl- 
vanians drove Pelham out of action, although he held 
the whole force at bay for half an hour. In his retreat 
he lost one of his own guns, and then Franklin 
brought up more batteries to protect the further ad- 
;vance of Meade and the Pennsylvanians. The bat- 
; teries across the river helped them also, never ceasing 
to send a rain of steel over their troops upon the 
■ Southern army. 

But Jackson’s men still lay close in the woods and 
behind their breastworks. Nearly all that rain of 
> steel flew over their heads. A shower of twigs and 
boughs fell on them, but so long as they stayed close 
the great artillery fire created terror rather than dam- 
I age. The men were panting with eagerness, but not 
(one was allowed to pull trigger, nor was a cannon 
'fired. 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


“Burnside must think there’s but a small force 
here,” said Dalton, “or he wouldn’t send so few men 
against us. Harry, when I look down at those bri- 
gades of Yankees I think of the old Roman salute — 
it was that of the gladiators, wasn’t it? — 'Morituri 
salutamus.’ ” 

“They’re doomed,” said Harry. 

Jackson, like the others, had dismounted, and he 
walked forward with a single aide to observe more 
closely the Union advance. A Northern sharpshooter 
suddenly rose out of high weeds, not far in front, and 
fired directly at them. The bullet whistled between 
Jackson and his aide. Jackson turned to the young 
man and said: 

“Suppose you go to the rear. You might get shot.” 

The young man, of course, did not go, and Harry, 
who was not far behind them in an earthwork, 
watched them with painful anxiety. He had seen the 
sudden uprising of the Northern skirmisher in the 
weeds and the flame from the muzzle. The man 
might not have known that it was Jackson, but he 
must have surmised from the gorgeous uniform that 
it was a general of importance. 

Harry, with the trained eye of a country boy, saw 
a rippling movement running among the weeds. The 
sharpshooter would reload and fire upon his general 
from another point. The second bullet might not miss. 

But the second shot did not come. The marks- 
man, doubtless thinking that another shot was too 
dangerous a hazard, had retreated into the plain. 
General Jackson walked on calmly, inspecting the 


FREDERICKSBURG 


whole Northern advance, and then returning took up 
his station on Prospect Hill, where he waited with the 
singular calmness that was always his, for the fit time 
to open fire. 

The leader of the Army of the Potomac was watch- 
ing from the other side of the Rappahannock with a 
terrible eagerness. The man who had not wished the 
command of the splendid Union army, who had 
deemed himself unequal to the task, was now prov- 
ing the correctness of his own intuitions. He had 
taken up his headquarters in a fine colonial residence 
on one of the highest points of the bank. He was 
surrounded there by numerous artillery, and the offi- 
cers of his staff crowded the porches, many of them 
already sad of heart, although they would not let 
their faces show it. 

But Burnside, now that his men had forced the river 
in such daring fashion, began to glow with hope. 
Such magnificent troops as he had, having crossed 
the deep, tidal Rappahannock in the face of an able 
and daring foe, were bound to win. He swept every 
point of the field with his glasses, and from his ele- 
vated position he and his officers could see what the 
troops in the plain below could not see, the long lines 
of the Confederates waiting in the trenches or in the 
woods, their cannon posted at frequent intervals. 

But Burnside hoped. Who would not have hoped 
with such troops as his? Never did an army, and 
with full knowledge of it, too, advance more boldly 
to a superhuman task. He saw the gallant advance 
of the Pennsylvanians and he saw them drive off Pel- 

115 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


ham. Hope swelled into confidence. With an anxiety 
beyond describing he watched the further advance of 
Meade and his Pennsylvanians. 

Stonewall Jackson also was watching from his con- 
venient hill, and his small staff, mostly of very young 
men, clustered close behind him. Jackson no longer 
used his glasses, as Burnside was doing. Meade and 
his Pennsylvanians were coming close to him now. 
The great Union batteries on Stafford Heights must 
soon cease firing or their shells and shot would be 
crashing into the blue ranks. 

‘Tt cannot be much longer,” said Harry. 

‘‘No, not much longer,” said Dalton. “We’ll un- 
mask mighty soon. How far away would you say 
they are now, Harry?” 

“About a thousand yards.” 

“Over a half mile. Then I’ll say that when they 
come within a half mile Old Jack will give the word 
to the artillery to loosen up.” 

Harry and George, in their intense absorption, had 
forgotten about the other parts of the line. In their 
minds, for the present at least, Jackson was fighting 
the battle alone. Longstreet was forgotten, and even 
Lee, for a space, remained unremembered. They 
were staring at the brigades which were coming on 
so gallantly, when the jaws of death were already 
opened so wide to receive them. 

“They’re at the half mile,” said Dalton, who had 
a wonderful eye for distance, “and still Old Jack does 
not give the word.” 

“The closer the better,” said Harry. Glancing up 

ii6 


FREDERICKSBURG 


and down the lines he saw the men bending over their 
guns and the riflemen in line after line rising slowly 
to their feet and looking to their arms. In spite of 
himself, in spite of all the hard usage of war through 
which he had been, Harry shuddered. He did not 
hate any of those men out there who were coming 
toward them so boldly ; no, there was not in all those 
brigades, nor in all the Union army, nor in all the 
North a single person whom he wished to hurt. Yet 
he knew that he would soon fight against them with 
all the weapons and all the power he could gather. 

"‘Eight hundred yards,’’ said Dalton. 

“Fire !” was the word that ran like an electric blaze 
along the whole Southern front; and Jackson’s fifty 
cannon, suddenly pushing forward from the forest, 
poured a storm of steel upon the devoted Pennsyl- 
vanians. Harry felt the earth rocking beneath him, 
and his ears were stunned by the roaring and crashing 
of the cannon all about him. 

The Union officers on the porclies of the colonial 
mansion across the river saw that terrible blaze leap 
from the Confederate line, and their hearts sank 
within them like lead. Alarmed as they had been 
before, they were in consternation now. Some had 
said that Jackson was not there, that it was merely a 
detachment guarding the woods, but now they knew 
their mistake. 

Harry and Dalton stayed close to their general. 
Shells and shot from the batteries below on the plain 
were crashing along the trees, but, like those from 
the great guns on Stafford Heights, they passed mostly 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


over their heads. The two youths at that moment had 
little to do but watch the battle. The Southern rifle- 
men crept forward in the woods, and now their bullets 
in sheets were crashing into the hostile ranks. The 
Union division commander hurried up reinforcements, 
and the Pennsylvanians, despite their frightful losses 
and shattered ranks, still held fast. But the Southern 
batteries never ceased for a moment to pour upon 
them a storm of death. With red battle before him 
and the fever in his blood running high, Harry now 
forgot all about wounds and death. He had eye and 
thought only for the tremendous panorama passing 
before him, where everything was clear and visible, 
as if it were an act in some old Roman circus, mag- 
nified manifold. 

Then came a message from Jackson to hurry to the 
left with an order for a brigadier who lay next to 
Longstreet. As he ran through the trees, he heard 
now the roar of the battle in the center, where the 
stalwart Longstreet was holding Marye’s Hill and the 
adjacent heights. A mighty Union division was at- 
tacking there, and out of the south from the embers 
of Fredericksburg came another great division in 
column after column. 

Harry heard the fire of Jackson slackening behind 
him, and he knew it was because Meade had been 
stopped or was retreating, and he stayed a little with 
the brigadier to see how Longstreet received the 
enemy. The hill and all the ridges about it seemed 
to be in one red blaze, and every few minutes the 
triumphant rebel yell, something like the Indian war- 


FREDERICKSBURG 


whoop, but poured from thirty thousand throats, 
swelled above the roar of the cannon and the crash of 
the rifles and made Harry’s pulses beat so hard that 
he felt absolute physical pain. 

He hurried to Jackson, where the battle, which had 
died for a little space, was swelling again. As the 
Pennsylvanians were compelled to draw back, leav- 
ing the ground covered with their dead, the Union 
batteries on Stafford Heights reopened, firing again 
over the heads of the men in blue. The Southern 
batteries, weaker and less numerous, replied with all 
their energy. A far-flung shot from their greatest 
gun, at the extreme southern end of the line, killed 
the brave Union general, Bayard, as he was sitting 
under a tree watching his troops. 

Gregg, one of the best of the Southern generals, 
was mortally wounded. A great body of the Penn- 
sylvanians, charging again, reached the shelter of the 
woods and burst through the Southern line. At an- 
other point, Hancock, always cool and brilliant on the 
field of battle, rallied shattered brigades and led them 
forward in person to new attacks. Hooker, who had 
shown such courage at Antietam, equally brave on 
this occasion, rushed forward with his men at another 
point. Franklin, Sumner, Doubleday and many other 
of the best Union generals showed themselves reckless 
of death, cheering on their men, galloping up and 
down the lines when they were mounted, and waving 
their swords aloft after their horses were killed, but 
always leading. 

The Pennsylvanians who had cut into the Southern 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


line were attacked in flank, but they held on to their 
positions. Jackson did not yet know of Meade’s suc- 
cess. He still stood on Prospect Hill with his staff, 
which Harry had rejoined. The forest and vast 
clouds of smoke hid from his view the battle, save in 
his front. Harry saw a messenger coming at a gallop 
toward the summit of the hill, and he knew by his 
pale face and bloodshot eyes that he brought bad news. 

Jackson turned toward the messenger, expectant 
but calm. 

“What is it?” he asked. 

“The enemy have broken through General Archer’s 
division, and he directed me to say to you that unless 
help is sent, both his position and that of General 
Gregg will be lost.” 

Jackson showed no excitement. His calm and com- 
posure in the face of disaster always inspired his men 
with fresh courage. 

Ride back to General Archer,” he said, “and tell 
him that the division of Early and the Stonewall Bri- 
gade are coming at once.” 

He turned his horse as if he would go with the 
relief, but in a moment he checked himself, put his 
field glasses back to his eyes, and continued to watch 
heavy masses of the enemy who were coming up in 
another quarter. 

Harry did not see what happened when Early and 
Taliaferro, who now led the Stonewall Brigade, fell 
upon the Pennsylvanians, but the Invincibles were in 
the charge and St. Clair told him about it afterward. 
The Union men had penetrated so far that they were 


120 


FREDERICKSBURG 


entangled in the forest and thickets, and nobody had 
come up to support them. They were much scattered,, 
and as their officers were seeking to gather them to- 
gether the men in gray fell upon them in overpower- 
ing force and drove them back in broken fragments. 
Wild with triumph, the Southern riflemen rushed after 
them and also hurled back other riflemen that were 
coming up to their support. But on the plan they 
encountered the matchless Northern artillery. A bat- 
tery of sixteen heavy guns met their advancing line 
with a storm of cannister, before which they were 
compelled to retreat, leaving many dead and wounded 
behind. 

Yet the entire Union attack on Jackson had been 
driven back, the Northern troops suffering terrible 
losses. The watchers on the Phillips porch on the 
other side of the river saw the repulse, and again their 
hearts sank like lead. 

The watchers turned their field glasses anew to the 
Southern center and left, where the battle raged with 
undiminished ferocity. Marye’s Hill was a formid- 
able position and along its slope ran a heavy stone 
wall. Behind it the Southern sharpshooters were 
packed in thousands, and every battery was well 
placed. 

Hancock, following Burnside’s orders, led the attack 
upon the ensanguined slopes. Forty thousand men, 
almost the flower of the Union army, charged again 
and again up those awful slopes, and again and again 
they were hurled back. The top of the hill was a 
leaping mass of flame and the stone wall was always 


I2I 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


crested with living fire. No troops ever showed 
greater courage as they returned after every repulse 
to the hopeless charge. 

At last they could go forward no longer. They 
had not made the slightest impression upon Marye’s 
Hill and the slopes were strewn with many thousands 
of their dead and wounded, including officers of all 
ranks, from generals down. The Union army was 
now divided into two portions, each in the face of 
an insuperable task. 

But Burnside, burning with chagrin, was unwilling 
to draw off his army. The reserve troops, left on the 
other side of the river, were sent across, and Fighting 
Joe Hooker was ordered to lead them to a new attack. 
Hooker, talking with Hancock, saw that it merely 
meant another slaughter, and sent such word to his 
commander-in-chief. But Burnside would not be 
moved from his purpose. The attack must be made, 
and Hooker — whose courage no one could question — 
still trying to prevent it, crossed the river himself, 
went to Burnside and remonstrated. 

Men who were present have told vivid stories of 
that scene at the Phillips House. Hooker, his face 
covered with dust and sweat, galloping up, leaping 
from his horse, and rushing to Burnside; the com- 
mander-in-chief striding up and down, looking toward 
Marye’s Hill, enveloped in smoke, and repeating to 
himself, as if he were scarcely conscious of what he 
was saying : ‘That height must be taken ! That height 
must be taken ! We must take it !” 

He turned to Hooker with the same words, “That 


122 


FREDERICKSBURG 


height must be taken to-day/’ repeating it over and 
over again, changing the words perhaps, but not the 
sense. The gallant but unfortunate man had not 
wanted to be commander-in-chief, foreseeing his own 
inadequacy, and now in his agony at seeing so many 
of his men fall in vain he was scarcely responsible. 

Hooker, his heart full of despair, but resolved to 
obey, galloped back and prepared for the last des- 
perate charge up Marye’s Hill. The advancing mists 
in the east were showing that the short winter day 
would soon draw to a close. He planted his batteries 
and opened a heavy fire, intending to batter down the 
stone wall. But the wall, supported by an earthwork, 
did not give, and Longstreet’s riflemen lay behind it 
waiting. 

At a signal the Union cannon ceased firing and the 
bugles blew the charge. The Union brigades swarmed 
forward and then rushed up the slopes. The volume 
of fire poured upon them was unequalled until Pickett' 
Jed the matchless charge at Gettysburg. Pickett him- 
self was here among the defenders, having just been 
sent to help the men on Marye’s Hill. 

Up went the men through the winter twilight, 
lighted now by the blaze of so many cannon and 
rifles pouring down upon them a storm of lead and 
steel, through which no human beings could pass. 
They came near to the stone wall, but as their lines 
were now melting away like snow before the sun, they 
were compelled to yield and retreat again down the 
slopes, which were strewed already with the bodies of 
so many of those who had gone up in the other attacks. 


123 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Every charge had broken in vain on the fronts of 
Jackson and Longstreet, and the Union losses were 
appalling. Harry knew that the battle was won and 
that it had been won more easily than any of the other 
great battles that he had seen. He wondered what 
Jackson would do. Would he follow up the grand 
division of Franklin that he had defeated and which 
still lay in front of them? 

But he ceased to ask the question, because when 
the last charge, shattered to pieces, rolled back down 
Marye’s Hill, the magnificent Northern artillery 
seemed to Harry to go mad. The thirty guns of the 
heaviest weight that had been left on Stafford Heights, 
and which had ceased firing only when the Northern 
men charged, now reopened in a perfect excess of 
fury. Harry believed that they must be throwing tons 
of metal every minute. 

Nor was Franklin slack. Hovering with his great 
division in the plain below and knowing that he was 
beaten, he nevertheless turned one hundred and six- 
teen cannon that he carried with him upon Jackson’s 
front and swept all the woods and ridges everywhere. 
The Union army was beaten because it had under- 
taken the impossible, but despite its immense losses it 
was still superior in numbers to Lee’s force, and above 
all it had that matchless artillery which in defeat 
could protect the Union army, and which in victory 
helped it to win. 

Now all these mighty cannon were turned loose in 
one huge effort. Along the vast battle front and from 
both sides of the river they roared and crashed defi- 


124 


FREDERICKSBURG 


ance. And the Army of the Potomac, which had 
wasted so much valor, crept back under the shelter of 
that thundering line of fire. It had much to regret, 
but nothing of which to be ashamed. Sent against 
positions impregnable when held by such men as Lee, 
Jackson and Longs treet, it had never ceased to attack 
so long as the faintest chance remained. Its com- 
mander had been unequal to the task, but the long 
roll of generals under him had shown unsurpassed 
courage and daring. 

Harry thought once that General Jackson was going 
to attack in turn, but after a long look at the roaring 
plain he shrugged his shoulders and gave no orders. 
The beaten Army of the Potomac preserved its 
order, it had lost no guns, the brigadiers and the 
major-generals were full of courage, and it was too 
formidable to be attacked. Three hundred can- 
non of the first class on either side of the river were 
roaring and crashing, and the moment the Southern 
troops emerged for the charge all would be sure to 
pour upon them a fire that no troops could with- 
stand. 

General Lee presently appeared riding along the 
line. The cheers which always rose where he came 
rolled far, and he was compelled to lift his hat more 
than once. He conferred with Jackson, and the two, 
going toward the left, met Longstreet, with whom 
they also talked. Then they separated and Jackson 
returned to his own position. Harry, who had fol- 
lowed his general at the proper distance, never heard 
what they said, but he believed that they had discussed 


125 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


the possibility of a night attack and then had decided 
in the negative. 

When Jackson returned to his own force the twi- 
light was thickening into night, and as darkness sank 
down over the field the appalling fire of the Union 
artillery ceased. Thirteen thousand dead or wounded 
Union soldiers had fallen, and the Southern loss was 
much less than half. 

All of Harry’s comrades and friends had escaped 
this battle uninjured, yet many of them believed that 
another battle would be fought on the morrow. 
Harry, however, was not one of these. He remem- 
bered some words that had been spoken by Jackson in 
his presence : 

“We can defeat the enemy here at Fredericksburg, 
but we cannot destroy him, because he will escape 
over his bridges, while we are unable to follow.” 

Nevertheless the young men and boys were exultant. 
They did not look so far ahead as Jackson, and they 
had never before won so great a victory with so little 
loss. Harry, sent on a message beyond Deep Run, 
found the Invincibles cooking their suppers on a spot 
that they had held throughout the day. They had 
several cheerful fires burning and they saluted Harry 
gladly. 

“A great victory, Harry,” said Happy Tom. 

“Yes, a great victory,” interrupted Colonel Leonidas 
Talbot; “but, my friends, what else could you have 
expected? They walked straight into our trap. But 
I have learned this day to have a deep respect for the 
valor of the Yankees. The way they charged up 


126 


FREDERICKSBURG 


Marye’s Hill in the face of certain death was worthy 
of the finest troops that South Carolina herself ever 
produced.’^ 

‘That is saying a great deal, Leonidas,’' said Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, “but it is true.” 

Harry talked a little with the two colonels, and also 
with Langdon and St. Clair. Then he returned to his 
own headquarters. Both armies, making ready for 
battle to-morrow, if it should come, slept on their 
arms, while the dead and the wounded yet lay thick 
in the forest and on the slopes and plain. 

But Harry was not among those who slept, at least 
not until after midnight. He and Dalton sat at the 
door of Jackson’s tent, awaiting possible orders. 
Jackson knew that Burnside, with a hundred thousand 
men yet in line and no artillery lost, was planning 
another attack on the morrow, despite his frightful 
losses of the day. 

The news of it had been sent to him by Lee, and 
Lee in turn had learned it from a captured orderly 
bearing Burnside’s dispatches. But neither Harry nor 
Dalton knew anything of Burnside’s plans. They 
wxre merely waiting for any errand upon which Jack- 
son should choose to send fhem. Several other staff 
officers were present, and as Jackson wrote his orders, 
he gave them in turn to be taken to those for whom 
they were intended. 

Harry, after three such trips of his own, sat down 
again near the door of the tent and watched his great 
leader. Jackson sat at a little table, on a cane-bot- 
tomed chair, and he wrote by the light of a single 


127 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


candle. His clothing was all awry and he had tossed 
away the gold-braided cap. His face was worn and 
drawn, but his eyes showed no signs of weariness. 
The body might have been weak, but the spirit of 
Jackson was never stronger. 

Harry knew that Jackson after victory wasted no 
time exulting, but was always preparing for the next 
battle. The soldiers, both in his own division and 
elsewhere, were awakened by turns, and willing thou- 
sands strengthened the Southern position. More and 
deeper trenches were constructed. New abatis were 
built and the stone wall was strengthened yet 
further. Formidable as the Southern line had been 
to-day, Burnside would find it more so on the 
morrow. 

After midnight, Jackson, still in his gorgeous uni- 
form and with boots and spurs on, too, lay down on 
his bed and slept about three hours. Then he aroused 
himself, lighted his candle and wrote an hour longer. 
Then he went to the bedside of the dying Gregg and 
sat a while with him, the staff remaining at a respect- 
ful distance. 

When they rode back — they were mounted again — 
they passed along the battle front, and the sadness 
which was so apparent on Jackson’s face affected them. 
It was far toward morning now and the enemy was 
lighting his fires on the plain below. The dead lay 
where they had fallen, and no help had yet been given 
to those wounded too seriously to move. It had been 
a tremendous holocaust, and with no result. Harry 
knew now that the North would never cease to fight 


128 


FREDERICKSBURG 


disunion. The South could win separation only at 
the price of practical annihilation for both. 

The night was very raw and chill, and not less so 
now that morning was approaching. The mists and 
fogs, which as usual rose from the Rappahannock, 
made Harry shiver at their touch. 'In the hollows of 
the ridges, which the wintry sun seldom reached, great 
masses of ice were packed, and the plain below, cut 
up the day before by wheels and hoofs and footsteps, 
was now like a frozen field of ploughed land. 

The staff heard enough through the fogs and mists 
to know that the Army of the Potomac was awake 
and stirring. The Southern army also arose, lighted 
its fires, cooked and ate its food and waited for the 
enemy. Before it was yet light Harry, on a message 
to Stuart, rode to the top of Prospect Hill with him, 
and, as they sat there on their horses, the sun cleared 
away the fog and mist, and they saw the Army of 
the Potomac drawn up in line of battle, defiant and 
challenging, ready to attack or to be attacked. 

Harry felt a thrill of admiration that he did not 
wish to check. After all, the Yankees were their own 
people, bone of their bone, and their courage must be 
admired. The Army of the Potomac, too, was learn- 
ing to fight without able chiefs. The young colonels 
and majors and captains* could lead them, and there 
‘ they were, after their most terrible defeat, grim and 
ready. 

‘Hhe lion’s wounded, but he isn’t dead, by any 
means,” said Harry to Stuart. 

^‘Not by a great deal,” said Stuart. 


129 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


There was much hot firing by skirmishers that day 
and artillery duels at long range, but the Northern 
army, which had fortified on the plain, would not 
come out of its intrenchments, and the Southern sol- 
diers also stuck to theirs. Burnside, who had crossed 
the river to join his men, had been persuaded at last 
that a second attack was bound to end like the first. 

The next day Burnside sent in a flag of truce, and 
they buried the dead. The following night Harry, 
wrapped to the eyes in his great cloak, stood upon 
Prospect Hill and watched one of the fiercest storms 
that he had ever seen rage up and down the valley of 
the Rappahannock. Many of the Southern pickets 
w^ere driven to shelter. While the whole Southern 
army sought protection from the deluge, the Army of 
the Potomac, still a hundred thousand strong, and 
carrying all its guns, marched in perfect order over 
the six bridges it had built, breaking the bridges down 
behind it, and camping in safety on the other side. 
The river was rising fast under the tremendous rain, 
and the Southern army could find no fords, even 
though it marched far up the stream. 

Fredericksburg was won, but the two armies, reso- 
lute and defiant, gathered themselves anew for other 
battles as great or greater. 


CHAPTER VI 


A CHRISTMAS DINNER 

A fter the great battle at Fredericksburg both 
armies seemed to suffer somewhat from re- 
action. Besides, the winter deepened. There 
was more snow, more icy rain, and more hovering of 
the temperature near the zero mark. The vast sea of 
mud increased, and the swollen Rappahannock, deep 
at any time, flowed between the two armies. Pickets 
often faced one another across the stream, some- 
times firing, but oftener exchanging the news, when 
the river was not too wide for the shouted voice to 
reach. 

Harry, despite his belief that the North would hold 
out, heard now that the hostile section had sunk into 
deep depression. The troops had not been paid for 
six months. Desertion into the interior went on on 
a great scale. One commander-in-chief after another 
had failed. After Antietam it had seemed that suc- 
cess could be won, but the South had come back 
stronger than ever and had won Fredericksburg, in- 
flicting appalling loss upon the North. Yet he heard 
that Lincoln never flinched. The tall, gaunt, ugly 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


man, telling his homely jokes, had more courage than 
anybody who had yet led the Union cause. 

Harry often went down to Fredericksburg, where 
some houses still stood among the icy ruins. A few 
families had returned, but as the town was still prac- 
tically under the guns of the Northern army, it was 
left chiefly to the troops. 

The Invincibles were stationed here, and Harry and 
Dalton got leave to spend Christmas day with its 
officers. Nothing could bring more fully home to him 
the appalling waste and ruin of war than the sight of 
Fredericksburg. Mud, ice and snow were deeper than 
ever in the streets. Many of the houses had been 
demolished by cannon balls and fire, and only frag- 
ments of them lay about the ground. Others had been 
wrecked but partially, with holes in the roofs and the 
windows shot out. The white pillars in front of 
colonnaded mansions had been shattered and the fallen 
columns lay in the icy slough. Long icicles hung from 
the burned portions of upper floors that still stood. 

Used to war’s ruin as he had become, Harry’s eyes 
filled with tears at the sight. It seemed a city dead, 
but not yet buried. But on Christmas day his friends 
and he resolutely dismissed gloom, and, first making 
a brave pretence, finally succeeded in having real 
cheerfulness in a fine old brick house which had been 
pretty well shot up, but which had some sound rooms 
remaining. Its owner had sent word that, while he 
could not yet come back to it with his family, he would 
be glad if the Southern army would make use of it 
in his absence. 


132 


A CHRISTMAS DINNER 


It was in this house that the little colony of friends 
gathered, everyone bringing to the dinner what he 
could. Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Hector St. Hilaire occupied the great sitting 
room on the ground floor, and here the dinner would 
be spread, as a part of the dining-room had been shot 
away and was still wet from snow and rain. 

But the sitting room gladdened the eye. A heavy 
imported carpet covered the central portion of the 
polished oaken floor. Old family portraits lined its 
walls and those of the parlor adjoining it. Curtains 
hung at the windows. They were more or less dis- 
colored by smoke and other agencies, but they were 
curtains. All about the chamber were signs of wealth 
and cultivation, and a great fire of wood was burning 
in a huge chimney under a beautifully carved oaken 
mantelpiece. 

The room seemed to remain almost as it had been 
left by the owner, save that two one-hundred-pound 
cannon balls, fired by the Union guns into Fredericks- 
burg, were lying by either side of the door. 

“Tickets, sir,” said Langdon, as Harry appeared 
at the door. 

Harry drew from under his cloak two boxes of 
sardines which he had taken from a deserted sutler’s 
wagon on the field of Fredericksburg. He handed 
them to Langdon, who said: 

“Pass in, most welcome guest.” 

Harry was the first arrival, but Dalton was next. 

“Tickets double price to all Virginia Presbyterians,” 
said Langdon. 


133 


f 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


#• 


^‘Instead of a double ticket here are two singles/’ 
said Dalton, as he drew from under his cloak two fine 
dressed chickens. ^‘Don’t these take me in?” 

“They certainly do. Go in on the jump, Dalton.” 

The next arrival was Sherburne, who brought a 
five-pound bag of coffee. Then came the two colonels 
together, one with the half of a side of bacon, and 
the other with a twenty-pound bag of flour. More 
followed, bringing like tickets that were perfectly 
good, and it seemed that all the invited ticket holders 
were in, when a big black man on a big black horse 
rode up and saluted Langdon respectfully. He held 
out a pass. 

“This pass am from Gen’ral Jackson,” he said. 

“Am it?” said Langdon, looking at the pass. “Yes, 
it am.” 

“Is you the orf’cer in command of this yere house?” 
asked the colored man, his wide mouth parting in an 
enormous grin that showed his magnificent white 
teeth. 

“For the present I am. Sir Knight of the Dark but 
Kind Countenance. What wouldst thou?” 

The man scratched his head and looked doubtfully 
at Langdon. 

“Guess you’re asking me some kind of a question, 
sah?” 

“I am. Who art thou? Whence comest thou. Sir 
Knight of Nubia ? Bearest thou upon thy person some 
written token, or, as you would say in your common 
parlance, what’s your business?” 

“Oh, I see, sah. Yes, sah, I done got a lettah from 


134 


A CHRISTMAS DINNER 




Mr. Theophilus Moncrieffe. That’s the owner of this 
house, and I belong to him. I’se Caesar Moncrieffe. 
Here’s the lettah, sah.” 

He handed a folded paper to Harry, who opened 
and read it. It was addressed to the chief of what- 
ever officers might be occupying his house, and it ran 
thus, somewhat in the old-fashioned way: 

Sirs and Gentlemen : 

The bearer of this is Caesar Moncrieffe. He and his 
ancestors have been servants of my family and my an- 
cestors in the State of Virginia for more than two hun- 
dred years. He is a good man, as were his father and 
grandfather before him. He will not steal unless he 
should think it for his benefit or yours. He will not lie 
unless convinced of its necessity. He will work if you 
make him. 

All of his impulses are good, and though he will 
strenuously deny it at first, he is about the best cook in 
the world. Knowing the scarcity of nutritious food in the 
army, I have therefore sent him to you with what I could 
gather together, in order that he might cook you a dinner 
worthy of Christmas. Put him to work, and if he dis- 
obeys, shuffles or evades in any manner, hit him over the 
head with anything that you can find hard enough or 
heavy enough to make an impression. 

Wishing the Army of Northern Virginia the continued 
and brilliant success that has attended it heretofore, 

I remain. 

Your most obedient servant, 

Theophilus Moncrieffe. 


335 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘‘Ah, Sir Knight of the Dark but not Rueful Coun- 
tenance, thou art doubly welcome!” said Happy Tom, 
now thrice-happy Tom. ‘Tt is a stout and goodly 
horse from which thou hast dismounted, and I see that 
he yet carries on his back something besides the sad- 
dle. But let me first speak to my Lord Talbot, our 
real commander, who is within.” 

Caesar did not wholly understand, but he saw that 
Langdon meant well, and he grinned. Happy Tom 
rushed toward Colonel Talbot, who stood before the 
fire with Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. 

“Colonel Talbot! Colonel Talbot, sir!” he ex- 
claimed. 

“What is it, Thomas, my lad? You appear to be 
excited, and that is not seemly in a soldier of your 
experience.” 

“But, Colonel, this isn’t a battle. Of course, I 
wouldn’t let myself be stirred up by the Yankees, but 
it’s a dinner, Colonel! It’s a Christmas dinner, and 
it bears all the signs of being as fine as any we ever 
ate in the old times of peace !” 

“Thomas, my lad, I regret it, but I must say that 
you are talking in a much more light-headed way than 
usual. All that we had we brought with us, and your 
young brother officers, who I must say excel you in 
industry, are now assembling it.” 

“But, Colonel, there’s a big black fellow outside. 
He’s just come in with a loaded horse, belonging to 
the owner of this house, and he’s brought a letter 
with him. Read it, sir.” 

Colonel Talbot gravely read the letter and passed it 
136 


A CHRISTMAS DINNER 


to Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, who read it with 
equal gravity. 

“Sounds well, eh, Hector?’’ Colonel Talbot said. 

“Most excellent, Leonidas.” 

They went to the door with Happy Tom, and again 
Caesar saluted respectfully. 

“You are welcome, Caesar,” said Colonel Talbot. 
“I am commander here. What has your kind master 
sent us?” 

Caesar bowed low before the two colonels and then 
proceeded to unload his horse. The young officers 
had come crowding to the door, but Happy Tom re- 
ceived the first package, which was wrapped in sacking. 

“An old Virginia ham, nut-fed and sugar-cured!” 
he exclairned. “Yes, it’s real! By all the stars and 
the sun and the moon, too, it’s real, because I’m pinch- 
ing it! I thought I’d never see another such ham 
again !” 

“And here’s a dressed turkey, a twenty-pounder at 
least !” said Harry. “Ah, you noble bird ! What bet- 
ter fate could you find than a tomb in the stomachs of 
brave Confederate soldiers!” 

“And another turkey!” said Dalton. 

“And a bag of nuts!” said Sherburne. 

“And, as I live, two bottles of claret!” said St. 
Claire. 

“And a big black cake!” said Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hector St. Hilaire. 

“And a great bunch of holly !” said Colonel Talbot, 
in whose eye, usually so warlike, a large tear stood. 

“Dat,” said Caesar, “was sent by little Miss Julia 


137 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Moncrieffe, just nine years old. She wished she had 
a bunch for every soldier in the army, an’ she sent 
her lub to all uv ’em.” 

'‘God bless little Julia Moncrieffe, aged nine,” said 
Colonel Talbot, much moved. 

"God bless her, so say we all of us,” the others 
added together. 

"And now, Caesar,” said Colonel Talbot, "put your 
horse in the part of the stable that remains. I noticed 
some hay there which you can give to him. Then 
come to the kitchen. Mr. Moncrieffe, whose name be 
praised, says that you’re the best cook since those em- 
ployed by Lucullus. It’s great praise, Caesar, but in 
my opinion it’s none too great.” 

Caesar, highly flattered, led his horse to the stable, 
and the approving looks of the youths followed him. 

"Sometimes I’ve had my doubts about Santa Claus,” 
said Happy Tom. 

"So have I,” said St. Clair, "but like you I have 
them no longer.” 

"And there’s a curious thing about this restoration 
of our belief in Santa Claus,” said Dalton. 

"Since we see him in person we all observe the 
fact,” said Harry. 

"That he is a very large man.” 

"Six feet two at the very least.” 

"Weight about two twenty, and all of it bone and 
muscle.” 

"And he is coal black.” 

"So black that even on a dark night he would seem 
to be clothed around with light.” 


A CHRISTMAS DINNER 


“Why did it never occur to anybody before that 
Santa Claus was a very black, black man?” 

“Because we are the first who have ever seen him 
in the flesh.” 

Caesar stabled his horse, went to the kitchen, where 
he lighted a fire in the big stove, and fell to work 
with a will and a wonderful light-handed dexterity 
that justified Mr. Moncrieffe’s praise of him. The 
younger officers helped in turn, but in the kitchen they 
willingly allowed to Caesar his rightful position as 
lord and master. 

Delicious aromas arose. The luxury of the present 
was brightened by the contrast with the hardships and 
hunger of two years. More than twenty officers were 
present, and by putting together three smaller tables 
they made a long one that ran full length down the 
center of the sitting-room. 

“We’ll save a portion of what we have for friends 
not so fortunate,” said Colonel Talbot. 

“You have always had a generous heart, Leonidas,” 
said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. 

“We have much for others and much for ourselves. 
But many of our friends and many thousands of the 
brave Southern youth have gone, Hector. However, 
we will not speak of that to-day, and we will try 
not to think of it, as we are here to celebrate this 
festival with the gallant lads who are still living.” 

Caesar proved to be all that his master had prom- 
ised and all that they had hoped. No better Christ- 
mas dinner was eaten that day in the whole LFnited 
States. Invincible youth was around the board, and 


139 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


the two colonels lent dignity to the gathering, without 
detracting from its good cheer. 

The table had been set late, and soon the winter 
twilight was approaching. As they took another slice 
of ham they heard the boom of a cannon on the far 
side of the Rappahannock. Harry went to the win- 
dow and saw the white smoke rising from a point 
about three miles away. 

“They can’t be firing on us, can they, sir?” he said 
to Colonel Talbot. “They wouldn’t do it on a day 
like this.” 

“No. There are two reasons. We’re so far apart 
that it would be a waste of good powder and steel, 
and they would not violate Christmas in that manner. 
We and the Yankees have become too good friends 
for such outrageous conduct. If I may risk a surmise, 
I think it is merely a Christmas greeting.” 

“I think so, too, sir. Listen, there goes a cannon 
on our side.” 

“It will be answered in a few moments. The fa- 
vorite Biblical numbers are seven and twelve, and I 
take it that each side will fire either seven or twelve 
shots. It is certainly a graceful compliment from the 
Yankees, befitting the season. I should not have said 
a year ago that they would show so much delicacy and 
perception.” 

“I think that the number of shots on each side will 
be twelve,” said Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. “It’s 
three apiece now, isn’t it?” 

“Yes, three apiece,” said Colonel Talbot. 

“Four now,” said Sherburne. 


140 


A CHRISTMAS DINNER 


‘Tive now,” said Dalton. 

“Six now,” said St. Clair. 

“Seven now,” said Harry. 

“Eight now,” said Happy Tom. 

“And seven has been passed,” said Colonel Talbot. 
“It will surely be twelve.” 

All were silent now, counting under their breath, 
and they felt a certain extraordinary solemnity as they 
counted. Harry knew that both armies, far up and 
down the river, were counting those shots, as the little 
group in the Moncrieffe house were counting them. 
Certainly there would be no hostilities on that day. 

“Nine,” they said under their breath. 

“Ten !” 

“Eleven!” 

“Twelve I” 

Then they listened, as the echo of the twelfth South- 
ern shot died away on the stream, and no sound came 
after it. Twenty-four shots had been fired, twelve by 
each army, conveying Christmas good wishes, and the 
group in the house went back to their dinner. Some 
glasses had been found, and there was a thimbleful 
of wine, enough for everyone. The black cake was 
cut, and at a word from Colonel Talbot all rose and 
drank a toast to the mothers and wives and sweet- 
hearts and sisters they had left behind them. 

Then the twilight thickened rapidly and the winter 
night came down upon them, hiding the ruined town, 
the blackened walls, the muddy streets and the icicles 
hanging from scorched timbers. 

Caesar Moncrieffe washed all the dishes — those left 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


in the house had been sufficient for their purpose- — 
wiped them carefully, and returned them to the cup- 
board. Then he announced that he must go. 

‘‘Come now, Santa Claus,” said Happy Tom, “you 
must stay here. You’ve done enough for one day. 
In fact, I should say that you’ve earned a week’s rest.” 

“I ain’t no Santy Claus,” said Caesar, “but I done 
got to git back to Massa Moncrieffe. He’ll be ex- 
pectin’ me.” 

“But you’ll get lost in the dark. Besides, some 
Yankee scout may shoot the top of your head off.” 

“You can’t lose me anywhar’ roun’ here. ’Sides, I 
kin dodge them Yankees every time. On a dark night 
like this I could go right up the gullies and through 
the biggest army in the world without its seein’ me.” 

Caesar felt that he was bound to go, and all the 
officers in turn shook his big rough black hand. Then 
they saw him ride away in the darkness, armed with 
his pass from General Jackson, and on the lookout for 
any prowling Yankees who might have ventured on 
the right bank of the river. 

“Isn’t it odd. Colonel,” said Harry to Colonel Tal- 
bot, “that so many of our colored people regard the 
Yankees who are trying now to free them as enemies, 
while they look upon us as their best friends?” 

“Propinquity and association, Harry,” replied Colo- 
nel Talbot, “and in the border states, at least, we have 
seldom been cruel to them. I hope there has been 
little of cruelty, too, in my own South Carolina. They 
are used to our ways, and they turn to us for the help 
that is seldom refused. The Northerner will always 


142 


A CHRISTMAS DINNER 


be a stranger to them, and an unsympathetic stranger, 
because there is no personal contact, none of that ‘give 
and take' which makes men friends.” 

“What a pity we didn’t free ’em ourselves long 
ago !” 

“Yes, it is. I say this to you in confidence now, 
Harry. Of course, I would be denounced by our peo- 
ple if I said it. But many of our famous men, Harry, 
have not approved of. it. The great Washington said 
slavery, with its shiftless methods of farming, was 
draining the life out of the land, and he was right. 
Haven’t we seen the ‘old fields’ of Virginia?” 

“And Clay was against it, too,” said Harry; “but 
I suppose it’s one of the things we’re now fighting 
for, unless we should choose to liberate them ourselves 
i after defeating the North.” 

“I suppose so,” said Colonel Talbot, “but I am no 
politician or statesman. My trade unfits me for such 
matters. I am a West Pointer — a proud and glori- 
ous fact 'I consider it, too — but the life of a regular 
army officer makes him a man set apart. He is not 
really in touch with the nation. He cannot be, be- 
cause he has so little personal contact with it. For 
that reason West Pointers should never aspire to pub- 
lic office. It does not suit them, and they seldom 
succeed in it. But here. I’m becoming a prosy old 
bore. Come into the house, lad. The boys are grow- 
ing sentimental. Listen to their song. It’s the same, 
isn’t it, that some of our bands played at Bull Run?” 

“Yes, sir, it is,” replied Harry, as he joined the 
others in the song: 


143 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


“The hour was sad, I left the maid 
A lingering farewell taking, 

Her sighs and tears my steps delayed 
I thought her heart was breaking. 

“In hurried words her name I blessed, 

I breathed the vows that bind me. 

And to my heart in anguish pressed 
The girl I left behind me.” 

Most all the officers had leave for the full -day. 
Harry and Dalton in fact were to stay overnight at 
the house, and, forgetful of the war, they sang one 
song after another as the evening waned. At nine 
o’clock all the guests left save Harry and Dalton. 

“You and Langdon will show them to their bed- 
rooms,” said Colonel Talbot. “Take the candle. The 
rest of us can sit here by the firelight.” 

There was but a single candle, and it was already 
burning low, but Happy Tom and Arthur, shielding 
it from draughts, led the way to the second floor. 

“Most of the houses were demolished by cannon 
shot and fire,” said Langdon, “but we’ve a habitable 
room which we reserve for guests of high degree. 
You will note here where a cannon shot, the result of 
plunging fire, came slantingly through the roof and 
passed out at the wall on the other side. You need 
not get under that hole if it should rain or snow, and 
meanwhile it serves splendidly for ventilation. The 
rip in the wall serves the same purpose, and, of course, 
you have too much sense to fall through it. Some 
blankets are spread there in the corner, and as you 


144 


A CHRISTMAS DINNER 

have your heavy cloaks with you, you ought to make 
out. Sorry we can’t treat you any better, Sir Harry 
of Kentucky and Sir George of Virginia, but these 
be distressful times, and the best the castle affords is 
put at your service.” 

‘‘And I suspect that it’s really the best,” said Harry 
to Dalton, as St. Clair and Langdon went out. 
“There’s straw under these blankets, George, and 
we’ve got a real bed.” 

The moonlight shone through two windows and the 
cannon-shot hole, and it was bright in the room. 

“Here’s a little bureau by the wall,” said Dalton, 
“and as I intend to enjoy the luxury of undressing, 
I’m going to put my clothes in it, where they’ll keep 
dry. You’ll notice that all the panes have been shot 
out of those windows, and a driving rain would sweep 
all the way across the room.” 

“Now and then a good idea springs up in some way 
in that old head of yours, George. I’ll do the same.” 

Dalton opened the top drawer. 

“Something has been left here,” he said. 

He held up a large doll with blue eyes and yellow 
hair. 

“As sure as we’re living,” said Harry, “we’re in 
the room of little Miss Julia Moncrieffe, aged nine, 
the young lady who sent us the holly. Evidently they 
took away all their clothing and lighter articles of 
furniture, but they forgot the doll. Put it back, 
George. They’ll return to Fredericksburg some day 
and we want her to find it there.” 

“You’re right, Harry,” said Dalton, as he replaced 


145 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


the doll and closed the drawer. “You and I ought to 
be grateful to that little girl whom we may never 
see.” ! 

“We won’t forget,” said Harry, as he undressed I 
rapidly and lay down upon their luxurious bed of ^ 
blankets and straw. 

Neither of them remembered anything until they ' 
were dragged into the middle of the room next morn- j 
ing by St. Clair and Langdon. 

“Here! here! wake up! wake up!” cried Langdon. 
“It’s not polite to your hosts to be snoring away when 
breakfast is almost ready. Go down on a piece of 
the back porch that’s left, and you’ll find two pans of 
cold water in which you can wash your faces. It’s 
true the pans are frozen over, but you can break the 
ice, and it will remind you of home and your little 
boyhood.” 

They sprang up and dressed as rapidly as they 
could, because when they came from the covers they 
found it icy cold in the room. Then they ran down, 
as they had been directed, broke the ice in the pans, and 
bathed their faces. 

“Fine air,” said Harry. 

“Yes, but too much of it,” said Dalton. 

“Br-h-h-h-h, how it freezes me ! Look at the icicles, 
George! I think some new ones came to town last 
night! And what a cold river! I don’t believe there 
was ever a colder-looking river than the Rappahan- 
nock !” 

“And see the fogs and mists rising from it, too. 

It looks exactly as it did the morning of the battle.” 

146 


A CHRISTMAS DINNER 


'‘Let it look as it pleases,” said Harry. 'T’m going 
to make a dash for the inside and a fire !” 

They found the colonels and the rest of the staff in 
the sitting-room, all except two, who were acting as 
cooks, but their work ceased in a moment or two, as 
breakfast was ready. It consisted of coffee and bread 
and ham left over from the night before. A heap of 
timber glowed in the fireplace and shot forth ruddy 
flames. Harry’s soul fairly warmed within him. 

"Sit down, all of you,” said Colonel Talbot, "and 
we’ll help one another.” 

They ate with the appetite of the soldier, and Colo- 
nel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, finish- 
ing first, withdrew to a wide window seat. There they 
produced the board and box of chessmen and pro- 
ceeded to rearrange them exactly as they were before 
the battle of Fredericksburg. 

"You will recall that your king was in great danger, 
Leonidas,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. 

"Truly I do. Hector, but I do not think it beyond 
my power to rescue him.” 

"It will be a hard task, Leonidas.” 

"Hector, I would have you to remember that I am 
an officer in the Army of Northern Virginia, and the 
Army, of Northern Virginia prefers hard tasks to 
easy ones.” 

"You put the truth happily, Leonidas, but I must 
insist that your position is one of uncommon danger.” 

"I recognize the fact fully, Hector, but I assert 
firmly that I will rescue my red king.” 

Harry, his part of the work finished, watched them. 


147 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


The two gray heads bent lower and lower over the 
table until they almost touched. Everybody main- 
tained a respectful silence. Colonel Talbot’s brow was 
corded deeply with thought. It was a full quarter of 
an hour before he made a move, and then his opponent 
looked surprised. 

“That does not seem to be your right move, 
Leonidas.” 

“But it is. Hector, as you will see presently.” 

“Very well. I will now choose my own course.” 

Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire’s own brow became 
corded and knotted as he put his whole mental energy 
upon the problem. Harry watched them a little while, 
and then strolled over to the other window, where 
St. Clair was looking at the ruined town. 

“Curious how people can, firid entertainment in so 
slow a game,” he said, nodding toward the two 
colonels. 

“That same game has been going on for more than 
a year,” said St. Clair, with a slight smile. “It’s odd 
how something always breaks it up. I wonder what 
it will be this time. But it’s an intelligent game, 
Harry.” 

“I don’t think a sport is intellectual, merely because 
it is slow.” 

Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire made a move, Colo- 
nel Leonidas Talbot made another, and then promptly 
uttered a little cry of triumph. 

“My king is free! He is free! You made no royal 
capture, Hector!” he exclaimed joyously. 

“It is so, Leonidas. I did not foresee your path of 

148 


A CHRISTMAS DINNER 


1 retreat. I must enter upon a new campaign against 
: you.” 

I Harry, who was looking toward the heights on the 
other side of the river, saw a flash of flame and a puff 
of smoke. A rumbling noise came to him. 

“What is it, Harry?” asked Colonel Talbot. 

“A Yankee cannon. I suppose it was telling us 
I Christmas is over. The ball struck somewhere in 
I Fredericksburg.” 

“A waste of good ammunition. Why, they’ve done 
all the damage to Fredericksburg that they can do. 
It’s your move. Hector.” 

Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire corded and knotted 
his brow again, and once more the two heads nearly 
met over the chessboard. A whistling sound suddenly 
came from the street without. Something struck with 
a terrible impact, and then followed a blinding flash 
and roar. The whole house shook and several of the 
men were thrown down, but in a half minute they 
sprang to their feet. 

Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hector St. Hilaire were standing erect, staring at each 
other. The chessmen were scattered on the floor and 
the board was split in half. A fragment of the ex- 
ploding shell had entered the window and passing di- 
rectly between them had done the damage. The same 
piece had gone entirely through the opposite wall. 

Harry’s quick glance told him that nothing had 
suffered except the chessboard. He sprang forward, 
picked up the two halves, and said: 

“No real harm has been done. Two strips under- 


149 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


neath, a few tacks, and it’s as good again as ever.” 

The other lads carefully gathered up the scattered 
chessmen and announced that not one of them was 
injured. 

'Thank you, boys,” said Colonel Talbot. "It is a 
pleasing thing to see that, despite the war, the young 
still show courtesy to their elders. You will bear in 
mind. Hector, when this game is resumed at a proper 
time and place, that the position of one of your knights 
was very delicate.” 

"Assuredly I will not forget it, Leonidas. It will 
be no trouble to either of us to replace them exactly 
as they were at a moment’s notice.” 

Harry and Dalton were compelled now to return 
to General Jackson, and they <Jid so, after leaving 
many thanks with their generous hosts. Heavy winter 
rains began. The country on both sides of the Rappa- 
hannock became a vast sea of mud, and the soldiers 
had to struggle against all the elements, because the 
rains were icy and the mud formed a crust through 
which they broke in the morning. 

While they lingered here news came of the great 
battle in the West, fought on the last day of the old 
year and the first day of the new, along the banks of 
Stone River. Harry and his comrades looked for a 
triumph there like that which they had won, and they 
were deeply disappointed when they heard the result. 

Harry had a copy of a Richmond paper and he was 
reading from it to an attentive circle, but he stopped 
to comment: 

"Ours was the smaller army, but we drove them 


A CHRISTMAS DINNER 


back and held a part of the field. Two or three days 
later we withdrew to Chattanooga. Well, I don’t call 
it much of a victory to thump your enemy and then 
go away, leaving him in possession of the field.” 

‘'But the enemy was a third more numerous than 
we were,” said Happy Tom, “and since it looks like 
a draw, so far as the fighting was concerned, we, 
being the smaller, get the honors.” 

“That’s just the trouble,” said Dalton gravely. 
“We are loaded down with honors. Look at the great 
victories we’ve won in the East! Has anything solid 
come of them? Here is the enemy on Virginia soil, 
just as he was before. We’ve given the Army of the 
Potomac a terrible thrashing at Fredericksburg, but 
there it is on the other side of the Rappahannock, 
just as strong as ever, and maybe stronger, because 
they say recruits are pouring into it.” 

“Stop! Stop, Dalton!” said Happy Tom. “We 
don’t want any lecture from you. We’re just having 
a conversation.” 

“All right,” said Dalton, laughing, “but I gave you 
my opinion.” 

Days of comparative idleness followed. The Army 
of the Potomac moved farther up the river and settled 
itself around the village of Falmouth. The Army of 
Northern Virginia faced it, and along the hillsides 
the young Southern soldiers erected sign posts, on 
the boards of which were painted, in letters large 
enough for the Union glasses to see, the derisive 
words : 

THIS WAY TO RICHMOND 


CHAPTER VII 


JEB STUART’s ball 

B ut Hooker, the new Northern commander, 
did not yet move. The chief cause was mud. 
The winter having been very cold in the first 
half, was very rainy in the second half. The nu- 
merous brooks and creeks and smaller rivers remained 
flooded beyond their banks, and the Rappahannock 
flowed a swollen and mighty stream. Ponds and 
little lakes stood everywhere. Roads had been de- 
stroyed by the marching of mighty masses and the 
rolling of thousands of heavy wheels. Horses often 
sank nearly to the knee when they trod new paths 
through the muddy fields. There was mud, mud 
everywhere. 

Hooker, moreover, was confronted by a long line 
of earthworks and other intrenchments, extending for 
twenty miles along the Rappahannock, and defended 
by the victors of Fredericksburg. After that disas- 
trous day the Northern masses at home were not so 
eager for a battle. The country realized that it was 
not well to rush a foe, led by men like Lee and Jackson. 
But Hooker was a brave and confident man. The 


152 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


North, always ready, was sending forward fresh 
troops, and when he crossed the Rappahannock, as he 
intended to do, he would have more men and more 
guns than Burnside had led when he attacked the 
blazing heights of Fredericksburg. Lincoln and Stan- 
ton, warned too by the great disasters through their 
attempts to manage armies in the field from the Capi- 
tol, were giving Hooker a freer hand. 

On the other hand, the Confederate president and 
his cabinet suddenly curtailed Lee’s plans. A fourth 
of his veterans under Longstreet were drawn off to 
meet a flank attack of other Northern forces which 
seemed to be threatened upon Richmond. Lee was 
left with only sixty thousand men to face Hooker’s 
growing odds. 

It was not any wonder that the spirits of the South- 
ern lads sank somewhat. Harry realized more fully 
every day that it was not sufficient for them merely 
to defeat the Northern armies. They must destroy 
them. The immense patriotism of those who fought 
for the Union always filled up thefr depleted ranks 
and more. And they were getting better generals all 
the time. Hancock and Reynolds and many another 
were rising to fame in the east. 

The Invincibles were posted nearly opposite Fal- 
mouth, and Harry had many chances to see them. On 
his second visit the chessboard was mended so per- 
fectly that the split was not visible, and the two colo- 
nels sat down to finish their game. Fifteen minutes 
later a dispatch from General Jackson to Colonel 
Leonidas Talbot arrived, telling him to leave at once 


153 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


by the railway in the Confederate rear for Richmond. 
President Davis wished detailed information from 
him about the fortifications along the coasts of North 
Carolina and South Carolina, which were now heavily 
threatened by the enemy. 

The two colonels had not made a move, but Colonel 
Leonidas Talbot rose, buttoned every button of his 
neat tunic, and said in precise tones : 

‘‘Hector, I depart in a half hour. You will, of 
course, have command of the regiment in my absence, 
and if any young lieutenants should be exceedingly 
obstreperous in the course of that time, perhaps I can 
prove to them that they are not as old as they think 
they are.’’ 

The colonel’s severity of tone was belied by a faint 
twinkle in the corner of his eye, and the lads knew 
that they had nothing to fear, especially as Lieutenant- 
Colonel St. Hilaire was quite as stern and able a 
guardian as Colonel Talbot. 

Colonel Talbot departed, good wishes following 
him in a shower, and that day a young officer 
arrived from South Carolina and took a place in 
the Invincibles that had been made vacant by 
death. 

Harry was still with his friends when this officer 
arrived, and the tall, slender figure and dark face of 
the man seemed familiar to him. A little thought re- 
called where he had first seen that eager gesture and 
the manner so intense that it betrayed an excessive 
enthusiasm. But when Harry did remember him he 
remembered him well. 


154 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


‘‘How do you do, Captain Bertrand?” he said — the 
man wore the uniform of a captain. 

Bertrand stared at Harry, and then he gradually 
remembered. It was not strange that he was puzzled 
at first, as in the two years that had passed since 
Bertrand was in Colonel Kenton’s house at Pendleton, 
Harry had grown much larger and more powerful, 
and was deeply tanned by all kinds of weather. But 
when he did recall him his greeting was full of 
warmth. 

“Ah, now I know!” he exclaimed. “It is Harry 
Kenton, the son of Colonel George Kenton! And we 
held that meeting at your father’s house on the eve of 
the war! And then we went up to Frankfort, and we 
did not take Kentucky out of the Union.” 

“No, we didn’t,” said Harry with a laugh. “Cap- 
tain Bertrand, Lieutenant St. Clair and Lieutenant 
Langdon.” 

But Bertrand had known them both in Charleston, 
and he shook their hands with zeal and warmth, show- 
ing what Harry thought — as he had thought the first 
time he saw him — an excess of manner. 

“We’ve a fine big dry place under this tree,” said 
St. Clair. “Let’s sit down and talk. You’re the new 
Captain in our regiment, are you not?” 

“Yes,” replied Bertrand. “I’ve just come from 
Richmond, where I met my chief, that valiant man. 
Colonel Leonidas Talbot. I have been serving mostly 
on the coast of the Carolinas, and when I asked to be 
sent to the larger theater of war they very naturally 
assigned me to one of my own home regiments. Alas ! 


155 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


there is plenty of room for me and many more in the 
ranks of the Invincibles/' 

‘We have been well shot up, that’s true,” said 
Langdon, whom nothing could depress more than a 
minute, “but we’ve put more than a million Yankees 
out of the running.” 

“How are your Knights of the Golden Circle getting 
on?” asked Harry. 

Bertrand flushed a little, despite his swarthiness. 

“Not very well, I fear,” he replied. “It has taken 
us longer to conquer the Yankees than we thought.” 

“I don’t see that we’ve begun to conquer them as 
a people or a section,” said St. Clair, who was always 
frank and direct. “We’ve won big victories, but just 
look and you’ll see ’em across the river there, stronger 
and more numerous than ever, and that, too, on the 
heels of the big defeat they sustained at Fredericks- 
burg. And, if you’ll pardon me. Captain, I don’t be- 
lieve much in the great slave empire that the Knights 
of the Golden Circle planned.” 

Bertrand’s black eyes flashed. 

“And why not?” he asked sharply. 

“To take Cuba and Mexico would mean other wars, 
and if we took them we’d have other kinds of people 
whom we’d have to hold in check with arms. A fine 
mess we’d make of it, and we haven’t any right to 
jump on Cuba and Mexico, anyway. I’ve got a far 
better plan.” 

“And what is that?” asked Bertrand, with an in- 
creasing sharpness of manner. 

“The North means to free our slaves. We’ll defeat 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


the North and show to her that she can’t. Then we’ll 
free ’em ourselves.” 

“Free them ourselves !” exclaimed Bertrand. “What 
are we fighting for but the right to hold our own 
property ?” 

“I didn’t understand it exactly that way. It seems 
to me that we went to war to defend the right of a 
state to go out of the Union when it pleases.” 

“I tell you, this war is being fought to establish 
our title to our own.” 

“It’s all right, so we fight well,” said Harry, who 
saw Bertrand’s rising color and who believed him to 
be tinged with fanaticism; “it’s all that can be asked 
of us. After Happy Tom sleeps in the White House 
with his boots on, as he says he’s going to do, we can 
decide, each according to his own taste, what he was 
fighting for.” 

“I’ve known all the time what was in my mind,” 
said Bertrand emphatically. “Of course, the exten- 
sion of the new republic toward the north will be cut 
off by the Yankees. Then its expansion must be 
southward, and that means in time the absorption of 
Mexico, all the West Indies, and probably Central 
America.” 

St. Clair was about to retort, but Harry gave him 
a warning look and he contented himself with rolling 
into a little easier position. Harry foresaw that these 
two South Carolinians would not be friends, and in 
any event he hated fruitless political discussions. 

Bertrand excused himself presently and went away. 

“Arthur,” said Harry, “I wouldn’t argue with him. 


157 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


He’s a captain in the Invincibles now, and you’re a 
lieutenant. It’s in his power to make trouble for you.” 

'‘You’re not appealing to any emotion in me that 
might bear the name of fear, are you, Harry ?” 

“You know I’m not. Why argue with a man who 
has fire on the brain ? Although he’s older than you, 
Arthur, he hasn’t got as good a rein on his temper.” 

“You can’t resist flattery like that, can you, Arthur? 
I know I couldn’t,” said Happy Tom, grinning his 
genial grin. 

St. Clair’s face relaxed. 

“You’re right, fellows,” he said. “We oughtn’t to 
be quarreling among ourselves when there are so many 
Yankees to fight.” 

Mail forwarded from Richmond was distributed in 
the camp the next day and Harry was in the multitude 
gathered about the officers distributing it. The deliv- 
ery of the mail was always a stirring event in either 
army, and as the war rolled on it steadily increased in 
importance. 

There were men in this very group who had not 
heard from home since they left it two years before, 
and there were letters for men who would never re- 
ceive them. The letters were being given out at vari- 
ous points, but where Harry stood a major was calling 
them in a loud, clear voice. 

“John Escombe, Field’s brigade.” 

Escombe, deeply tanned and twenty-two, ran for- 
ward and received a thick letter addressed in a wom- 
an’s handwriting, that of his mother, and, amid cheer- 
ing at his luck, disappeared in the crowd. 

158 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


‘Thomas Anderson, Gregg’s brigade. Girl’s hand- 
I writing, too. Lucky boy, Tom.” 

“Hey, Tom, open it and show it to us ! Maybe her 
picture’s inside it! I’ll bet she’s got red hair!” 

But Tom fled, blushing, and opened his letter when 
he was at a safe distance, 
j “Carlton Ives, Thomas’ brigade.” 
i “In hospital. Major, but I’ll take the letter to him. 

I He’s in my company.” 

“Stephen Brayton, Lane’s brigade.” 

There was a silence for a moment, and then some 
one said: 

“Dead, at Antietam, sir.” 

The major put the letter on one side, and called: 

“Thomas Langdon, the Invincibles.” 

Langdon darted forward and seized his letter. 

“It’s from my father,” he said as he glanced at the 
superscription, although it was half hidden from him 
by a mist that suddenly appeared before his eyes. 

“Here, Tom, stand behind us and read it,” said 
Harry, who was waiting in an anxiety that was posi- 
tively painful for a letter to himself. 

“Henry Lawton, Pender’s brigade,” called the 
major. “This is from a girl, too, and there is a photo- 
graph inside. I can feel it. Wish I could get such a 
letter myself, Henry.” 

Lawton, his letter in his hand, retreated rapidly 
amid envious cheers. 

“Charles Carson, Lane’s brigade.” 

“Dead at Fredericksburg, sir; I helped to bury him.” 

“Thomas Carstairs, Field’s brigade.” 


159 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘'Killed at the Second Manassas, sir/' 

“Richard Graves, Archer’s brigade.” 

“Died in hospital after Antietam, sir.” 

“David Moulton, Field’s brigade.” 

“Killed nearly a year ago, in the valley, sir.” 

“William Fitzpatrick, Lane’s brigade.” 

“Taken prisoner at Antietam. Not yet exchanged, 
sir.” 

“Herbert Jones, Pender’s brigade.” 

“Killed at South Mountain, sir.” 

Harry felt a little shiver. The list of those who 
would never receive their letters was growing too 
long. But this delivery of the mail seemed to run in 
streaks. Presently it found a streak of the living. 
It was a great mail that came that day, the largest the 
army had yet received, but the crowd, hungry for a 
word from home, did not seem to diminish. The 
ring continually pressed a little closer. 

St. Clair received two letters, and, a long while 
afterwards, there was one for Dalton, who, however, 
had not been so long a time without news, as the bat- 
tlefield was his own state, Virginia. Harry watched 
them with an envy that he tried to keep down, and 
after a while he saw that the heap of letters was be- 
coming very small. 

His anxiety became so painful that it was hard to 
bear. He knew that his father had been in the thick 
of the great battle at Stone River, but not a word 
from him or about him had ever come. No news in 
this case was bad news. If he were alive he would 
certainly write, and there was Confederate communi- 

i6o 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


cation between Eastern Tennessee and Northern Vir- 
ginia. 

It was thus with a sinking heart that he watched 
the diminishing heap. Many of the disappointed ones 
had already gone away, hopeless, and Harry felt like 
following them, but the major picked up a thick letter 
in a coarse brown envelope and called : 

“Lieutenant Henry Kenton, staff of Lieutenant- 
General Thomas Johathan Jackson.” 

Harry sprang forward and seized his letter. Then 
he found a place behind a big tree, where St. Clair, 
Langdon and Dalton were reading theirs, and opened 
it. He had already seen that the address was in his 
father’s handwriting and he believed that he was alive. 
The letter must have been written after the battle of 
Stone River or it would have arrived earlier. He 
took a hurried glance at the date and saw that it was 
near the close of January, at least three weeks after 
the battle. Then all apprehension was gone. 

It was a long letter, dated from headquarters near 
Chattanooga, Tennessee. Colonel Kenton had just 
heard of the battle of Fredericksburg and he was re- 
joicing in the glorious victory. He hoped and be- 
lieved that his son had passed through it safely. The 
Southern army had not been so successful in the west 
as in the east, but he believed that they had met tougher 
antagonists there, the men of the west and northwest, 
used to all kinds of hardships, and, alas! their own 
Kentuckians. At both Perryville and Stone River 
they had routed the antagonists who met them first, 
but they had been stopped by their own brethren. 


i6i 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Harry smiled and murmured to himself: 

“You can never put down dad’s state pride. With 
him the Kentuckians are always first.” 

He had a good deal of this state pride himself, 
although in a less accentuated form, and, after the 
momentary thought, he went on. The colonel was 
looking for a letter from his son — Harry had written 
twice since Fredericksburg, and he knew now that the 
letters would arrive safely. He himself had been 
wounded slightly in a skirmish just after Stone River, 
but he was now entirely well. The Southern forces 
were gathering and General Bragg would have a great 
army with which they were confident of winning a 
victory like that of the Second Manassas or Freder- 
icksburg. He was glad that his son was on the staff 
of so great a genius as General Jackson and that he 
was also under the command of that other great 
genius, Lee. 

Harry stopped reading for a moment or two and 
smiled with satisfaction. The impression that Lee 
and Jackson had made upon the South was as great 
in the west as in the east. The hero-worship which 
the fiery and impressionable South gives in such un- 
stinted measure to these two men had begun already. 
Harry was glad that his father recognized the great 
Virginians so fully, men who allied with genius tem- 
perate and lofty lives. 

He resumed his reading, but the remainder of the 
letter was occupied with personal details. The colonel 
closed with some good advice to his son about caring 
for himself on the march and in camp, drawn from 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


his own experience both in the Mexican war and the 
present strife. 

Harry read his letter three times. Then he folded 
it carefully and put it in an inside pocket of his tunic. 

‘Ts it good news, Harry?” asked Happy Tom, who 
had already finished with his own letter. 

'‘Yes, it’s cheerful.” 

“So’s mine. I’m glad to hear that your father’s 
all right. Mine didn’t go to the war. I wish you 
could meet my father, Harry. I get my cheerful dis- 
position and my good manners from him. When the 
war was about to begin and il went over to Charleston 
in about the most splendid uniform that was ever 
created, he said: ‘You fellows will get licked like 
thunder, and maybe you’ll deserve it. As for you, 
you’ll probably get a part of your fool head shot off, 
but it’s so thick and hard that it will be a benefit to 
you to lose some of it and have the rest opened up. 
But remember, Tom, whenever you do come back, no 
matter how many legs and arms and portions of your 
head you’ve left behind, there’ll be a welcome in the 
old house for you. You’re the fatted calf, but you’re 
sure to come back a lot leaner and maybe with more 
sense.’ ” 

“He certainly talked to you straight.” 

“So he did, Harry; but those words were not nearly 
so rough as they sound, because when I came away 
I saw' tears in his eyes. Father’s a smart man, a 
money-maker as good as the Yankees themselves. 
He’s got sea island cotton in w'arehouses in more than 
one place along the coast, and he writes me that he’s 

163 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


already selling it to the blockade runners for unmen- 
tionable prices in British and French gold. Harry, 
if your fortunes are broken up by the war, you and 
your father will have to come down and share with 
us.” 

‘Thanks for your invitation, Tom; but from what 
you say about your father we’d be about as welcome 
as a bear in a kitchen.” 

“Don’t you believe it. You come.” 

“Arthur, what do you hear?” asked Harry. 

“My people are well and they’re sending me a lot 
of things. My mother has put in the pack a brand 
new uniform. She sewed on the gold lace herself. 
I hope the next battle won’t be fought before it gets 
here.” 

“Impossible,” said Harry gravely. “General 
Hooker is too polite a man to push us before Lieu- 
tenant St. Clair receives his new clothes.” 

“I hope so,” said St. Clair seriously. 

The new uniform, in fact, came a few days later, 
and as it even exceeded its promise, St. Clair was 
thoroughly happy. Harry also received a second let- 
ter from Colonel Kenton, telling of the receipt of his 
own, and wishing him equally good fortune in the new 
battle which they in the west heard was impending 
in the east. 

Harry believed they would surely close with Hooker 
soon. They had been along the Rappahannock for 
many weeks now, and the winter of cold rain had not 
yet broken up, but spring could not be far away. 
Meanwhile he was drawn closer than ever to Jackson, 

164 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


his great commander, and was almost constantly in 
his service. 

I It was, perhaps, the difference in their natures that 
I made the hero-worship in the boy so strong. Jackson 
I was quiet, reserved and deeply religious. Harry was 
i impulsive, physically restless, and now and then talka- 
tive, as the young almost always are. Jackson’s im- 
passive face and the few words — but always to the 
point — that he spoke, impressed him. In his opinion 
now Stonewall Jackson could do no wrong nor make 
any mistake of judgment. 

The months had not been unpleasant. The South- 
ern army was recuperating from great battles, and, 
used to farm or forest life, the soldiers easily made 
shelter for themselves against the rain and mud. The 
Southern pickets along the river also established good 
relations with the pickets on the other side. Why 
not? They were of the same blood and the same 
nation. There was no battle now, and what was the 
use of sneaking around like an Indian, trying to kill 
somebody who was doing you no harm? That was 
assassination, not war. 

The officers winked at this borderline friendship. 
A' Yankee picket in a boat near the left shore could 
knot a newspaper into a tight wad and throw it to 
the Johnny Reb picket in another boat near the right 
bank, and there were strong-armed Johnny Reb 
pickets who could throw a hunk of chewing tobacco 
all the way to the Yankee side. Already they were 
sowing the seeds of a good will which should follow 
a mighty war. 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Harry often went to the bank on the warmer and 
more sunny days and leisurely watched the men on 
the other side. St. Clair, Langdon and Dalton usually 
joined him, if their duties allowed. It was well into 
March, a dry and warm day, when they sat on a little 
hillock and gazed at four of the men in blue who 
were fishing from a small boat near their shore. St. 
Clair was the last to join the little party, and when 
he came he was greeted with a yell by the men on 
the left bank. One of them put up his hands, trumpet- 
shaped, to his mouth and called : 

'‘Is that President Davis who has just joined you?” 

"No,” replied Harry, using his hands in like fashion. 
"What makes you think so?” 

"Because Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 
like him. IVe got to put my hands over my eyes to 
protect them from the blaze of that uniform.” 

St. Clair, who wore his new uniform, which was 
modelled somewhat after the brilliant fashion of 
Stuart’s, smiled with content. He was making a 
great hit. 

"You can do all the talking, Harry,” he said. 

"As I told you, he isn’t President Davis,” Harry 
called, "but he’s sure, when he’s old enough, to be one 
of his successors.” 

"Bet you a dollar, Johnny Reb, that President Davis 
has no successor.” 

"Take you, Yank, and I’ll collect that bet from you 
when I ride down Pennsylvania Avenue in my Con- 
federate uniform at the head of the Army of Northern 
Virginia.” 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


‘'Oh, no, you won’t; you’ll pay it to me before the 
State House in Richmond, with the Army of the Po- 
tomac looking on and the Stars and Stripes waving 
gracefully over your head.” 

“Both of you are betting on things too far off,” 
said Langdon, who could keep out of the conversation 
no longer. “I’ll bet you two dollars that not one of 
those four men in the boat catches a fish inside of ten 
minutes.” 

“In Confederate bills or in money?” was called 
back. 

Roars of laughter, from both sides of the Rappa- 
hannock, crossed one another above the middle of the 
stream. 

“What’s this?” exclaimed a sharp voice behind the 
four. “Conversation with the enemy! It’s against 
all the rules of war!” 

They looked around and saw Bertrand, his face 
flushed and his eyes sparkling. Harry leaned back 
lazily, but St. Clair spoke up quickly. 

“We’ve been having conversations off and on with 
the enemy for two years,” he said. “We’ve had some 
' mighty hot talks with bullets and cannon balls, and 
; some not so hot with words. Just now we were hav- 
: ing one of the class labelled ‘not so hot.’ ” 

I “What’s the matter with you Johnnies?” was called 
I across. “You’ve broken off the talk just when it was 
I getting interesting. Are you going to back out on 
! that bet? We thought you had better manners. We 
I know you have.” 

I “You’re right, we have,” said St. Clair, shouting 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


across the stream, “but we were interrupted by a man 
who hasn’t.” 

“Oh, is that so?” was called back. “If you’ve 
troubles of your own, we won’t interfere. We’ll just 
look on.” 

Bertrand was pallid with rage. 

“I’m a captain in the Invincibles, Mr. St. Clair,” 
he said, “and you’re only a lieutenant. You’ll return 
to your regiment at once and prepare .a written apology 
to me for the words that you’ve just used to those 
Yankees.” 

“Oh, no, I won’t do either,” drawled St. Clair pur- 
posely. “It is true that a captain outranks a lieuten- 
ant, but you’re a company commander and I’m a staff 
officer. I take no orders from you.” 

“Nevertheless you have insulted me, and there is 
another and perhaps better way to settle it.” 

He significantly touched the hilt of his sword. 

“Oh, if you mean a duel, it suits me well enough,” 
said St. Clair, who was an expert with the sword. 

“Early to-morrow morning in the woods back of 
this point?” 

“Suits me.” 

“Your seconds?” 

Then Harry jumped to his feet in a mighty wrath 
and indignation. 

“There won’t be any duel! And there won’t be 
any seconds!” he exclaimed. 

“Why not?” asked Bertrand, his face livid. 

“Because I won’t allow it.” 

“How can you help it?” 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


‘Tt's a piece of thunderation foolishness! Two 
good Southern soldiers trying to kill each other, when 
they’ve sworn to use all their efforts killing Yankees. 
It’s a breach of faith and it’s silliness on its own 
account. You’ve received the hospitality of my fa- 
ther’s house, Captain Bertrand, and he’s helped you 
and been kind to you elsewhere. You owe me enough 
at least to listen to me. Unless I get the promise of 
you two to drop this matter, I swear I’ll go straight 
to General Jackson and tell all about it. He’ll save 
you the trouble of shooting each other. He’ll have 
you shot together. You needn’t frown, either of you. 
It’s not much fun breaking the rules of a Presbyterian 
elder who is also one of the greatest generals the 
world has ever seen.” 

‘^You’re talking sound sense, Harry,” said Happy 
Tom, an unexpected ally. ‘T’ve several objections to 
this duel myself. We’ll need both of these men for 
the great battle with Hooker. Arthur would be sure 
to wear his new uniform, and a bullet hole through 
it would go far toward spoiling it. Besides, there’s 
nothing to fight about. And if they did fight. I’d 
hate to see the survivor standing up before one of 
Old Jack’s firing squads and then falling before it. 
You go to General Jackson, Harry, and I’ll go along 
with you, seconding every word you say. Shut up, 
Arthur; if you open your mouth again I’ll roll you 
and your new uniform in the mud down there. You 
know I can do it.” 

‘'But such conduct would be unparalleled,” said 
Bertrand. 


169 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


'T don’t care a whoop if it is” said Harry, who 
had been taught by his father to look upon the duel 
as a wicked proceeding. “General Jackson wouldn’t 
tolerate such a thing, and in his command what 
he says is the Ten Commandments. Isn’t that so, 
Dalton?’^ 

“Undoubtedly, and you can depend upon me as a 
third to you and Happy Tom.” 

“Now, Captain,” continued Harry soothingly, “just 
forget this, won’t you? Both of you are from South 
Carolina and you ought to be good friends.” 

“So far as I’m concerned, it’s finished,” said St. 
Clair. 

But Bertrand turned upon his heel without a word 
and walked away. 

“Hey, there, you Johnnies!” came a loud hail from 
the other side of the river. “What’s the matter with 
your friend who’s just gone away? I was watching 
with glasses, and he didn’t look happy.” 

“He had a nightmare and he hasn’t fully recovered 
from it yet.” 

There was a sudden tremendous burst of cheering 
behind them. 

“On your feet, boys!” exclaimed Happy Tom, 
glancing back. “Here comes Old Jack on one of his 
tours of inspection.” 

Jackson was riding slowly along near the edge of 
the river. He could never appear without rolling 
cheers from the thirty thousand veteran troops who 
were eager to follow wherever he led. The mighty 
cheering swept back and forth in volumes, and when 


170 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


a lull came, one among their friends, the Yankee 
pickets on the other side of the river, called at the, 
top of his voice: 

“Hey, Johnnies, what’s the racket about?” 

“It’s Stonewall Jackson!” Harry roared back, point- 
ing to the figure on the horse. 

Then, to the amazement of all, a sudden burst of 
cheering came from the far bank of the Rappahan- 
nock, followed by the words, shouted in chorus: 
“Hurrah for Stonewall Jackson! Hurrah for Jack- 
son !” Thus did the gallant Northern troops show 
their admiration for their great enemy whose genius 
had defeated them so often. Some riflemen among 
them lying among the bushes at the water’s edge might 
have picked him off, but no such thought entered the 
mind of anyone. 

Jackson flushed at the compliment from the foe, 
but rode quietly on, until he disappeared among some 
woods on the left. 

“We’d better be going back to headquarters,” said 
Harry to Dalton. “It’ll be wise for us to be there 
when the general arrives.” 

“That’s right, lazy little boys,” said Happy Tom. 
“Wash your faces, run to school, and be all bright and 
clean when teacher comes.” 

“It’s what we mean to do,” said Harry, “and if 
Arthur says anything more about this silly dueling 
business, send for us. We’ll come back, and we three 
together will pound his foolish head so hard that he 
won’t be able to think about anything at all for a year 
to come.” 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘‘I’ll behave,” said St. Clair, “but you fellows look 
to Bertrand.” 

Dalton and Harry walked to the headquarters of 
their general, who now occupied what had been a 
hunting lodge standing in the grounds of a large man- 
sion. The whole place, the property of an orderly 
in his service, had been offered to him, but he would 
only take the hunting lodge, saying that he would not 
clutter up so fine and large a house. 

Now Harry and Dalton walked across the lawn, 
which was beginning to turn green, and paused for a 
little while under the budding boughs of the great 
trees. The general had not yet arrived, but the roll- 
ing cheers never ceasing, but coming nearer, indicated 
that he would soon be at hand. 

“A man must feel tremendous pride when his very 
appearance draws such cheers from his men,” said 
Harry. 

The lawn was not cut up by the feet of horses — 
Jackson would not allow it. Everything about the 
house and grounds was in the neatest order. Beside 
the hunting lodge stood a great tent, in which his 
staff messed. 

“Were you here the day General Jackson came to 
these quarters, Harry?” asked Dalton. 

“No, I was in service at the bank of the river, car- 
rying some message or other. I’ve forgotten what 
it was.” 

“Well, I was. We didn’t know where we were 
going to stay, and a lady came from the big house 
here down to the edge of the woods, where we were 


172 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


still sitting on our horses. Ts this General Jackson?’ 
asked she. Tt is, madame,’ he replied, lifting his hat 
politely. ‘My husband owns this house,’ she said, 
pointing toward it, ‘and we will feel honored and 
glad if you will occupy it as your headquarters while 
you are here.’ He thanked her and said he’d ride 
forward with a cavalry orderly and inspect the place. 
The rest of us waited while he and the orderly rode 
into the grounds, the lady going on ahead. 

“The general wouldn’t take the house. He said he 
didn’t like to see so fine a place trodden up by young 
men in muddy military boots. Besides, he and his 
staff would disturb the inmates, and he didn’t want 
that to happen. At last he picked the hunting lodge, 
and as he and the orderly rode back through the gate 
to the grounds, the orderly said : ‘General, do you feel 
wholly pleased with what you have chosen ?’ ‘It suits 
me entirely,’ replied General Jackson. ‘I’m going to 
make my headquarters in that hunting lodge.’ ‘I’m 
very glad of that, sir, very glad indeed.’ ‘Why?’ asked 
General Jackson. ‘Because it’s my house,’ replied the 
orderly, ‘and my wife and I would have felt greatly 
disappointed if you had gone elsewhere.’ ” 

“And so all this splendid place belongs to an or- 
derly?” said Harry. 

“Funny you didn’t hear that story,” said Dalton. 
“Most of us have, but I suppose everybody took it for 
granted that you knew it. As you say, that grand 
place belongs to one of our orderlies. After all, we’re 
a citizen army, just as the great Roman armies when 
they were at their greatest were citizen armies, too.” 


173 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


'‘Ah, here comes the general now,” said Harry, 
"and he looks embarrassed, as he always does after 
so much cheering. A stranger would think from the 
way he acts that he’s the least conspicuous of our 
generals, and if you read the reports of his victories 
you’d think that he had less than anybody else to do 
with them.” 

General Jackson, followed by an orderly, cantered 
up. The orderly took the horse and the general went 
into the house, followed by the two young staff officers. 
They knew that he was likely to plunge at once into 
work, and were ready to do any service he needed. 

"I don’t think I’ll want you boys,” said the general 
in his usual kindly tone, "at least not for some time. 
So you can go out and enjoy the sunshine and warmth, 
of which we have had so little “for a long time.” 

"Thank you, sir,” said Harry, but he added hastily : 

"Here come some officers, sir.” 

Jackson glanced through the window of the hunt- 
ing lodge and caught sight of a waving plume, just as 
its wearer passed through the gate. 

"That’s Stuart,” he said, with an attempt at severity 
in his tone, although his smiling eye belied it. "I 
suppose I might as well defer my work if Jeb Stuart 
is coming to see me. Stay with me, lads, and help 
me to entertain him. You know Stuart is nothing but 
a joyous boy — younger than either of you, although 
he is one of the greatest cavalry leaders of modern 
times.” 

Harry and Dalton were more than willing to remain. 
Everybody was always glad when Jeb Stuart came. 


174 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


Now he was in his finest mood, and he and the two 
staflf officers with him rode at a canter. They leaped 
from their horses at Jackson’s door, throwing the 
reins over their necks and leaving them to the orderly. 
Then they entered boldly, Stuart leading. He was 
the only man in the whole Southern army who took 
liberties with Jackson, although his liberties were 
always of the inoffensive kind. 

If St. Clair was gorgeous in his new clothes, he 
would have been pale beside Stuart, who also had new 
raiment. A most magnificent feather looped and 
draped about his gold-braided hat. His uniform, of 
the finest cloth, was heavy with gold braid and gold 
epaulets, and the great yellow silk sash about his waist 
supported his gold-hilted sword. 

‘‘What new and splendid species of bird is this?” 
asked General Jackson, as Stuart and his men saluted. 
“I have never before seen such grand plumage.” 

Stuart complacently stroked the gold braid on his 
left sleeve and looked about the hunting lodge, the 
walls of which had been decorated accordingly long 
since by its owner. 

“Splendid picture this of a race horse. General,” he 
said, “and the one of the trotter in action is almost as 
fine. Ah, sir, I knew there were good sporting in- 
stincts in you and that they would come out in time. 
I approve of it myself, but what will the members of 
your church say, sir, when they hear of your moral 
decline ?” 

Jackson actually blushed and remained silent under 
the chaff. 


175 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘‘And here is a picture of a greyhound, and here of 
a terrier,” continued the bold Stuart. “Oh, General, 
you’re not only going in for racing, but for coursing 
dogs as well, and maybe fighting dogs, too ! Through- 
out the South all the old ladies look up to you as our 
highest moral representative. What will they think 
when they hear of these things? It would be worse 
than a great battle lost.” 

“General Stuart,” said Jackson, “I know more about 
race horses than you think I do.” 

He would add no more, but Harry had learned that, 
when quite a small boy, he had ridden horses in back- 
woods races for a sport-loving uncle. But Stuart 
continued his jests and Jackson secretly enjoyed them. 
The two men were so opposite in nature that they 
were complements and each liked the society of the 
other. 

The two lads and the staff officers went outside 
presently, and the two generals were left together to 
talk business for a quarter of an hour. When Stuart 
emerged he glanced at Harry and Dalton and beck- 
oned to them. When they came up he had mounted, 
but he leaned over, and pointing a long finger in a 
buckskin glove in turn at each, he said : 

“Can you dance?” 

“Yes, sir,” replied Harry. 

“And you. Sir Knight of the Sober Mien?” 

“I can try, sir,” said Dalton. 

“But can you make it a good try?” 

“I can, sir.” 

“That’s the right spirit. Well, there’s going to be 
176 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


a bail down at my headquarters to-night; not a little, 
two-penny, half-penny affair, but a real ball, a grand 
ball. The bands of the Fifth Virginia and of the 
Acadians will be there to play, alternating. You’re 
invited and you’re coming. I’ve already obtained leave 
from General Jackson for you both. I wish the gen- 
eral himself would come, but he’s just received a 
theological book that Dr. Graham at Winchester has 
sent him, and he’s bound to spend most of the night 
on that. Put on your best uniforms and be there just 
after dark.” 

Harry and Dalton accepted eagerly, and Stuart, a 
genuine knight of old alike in his courage and love of 
adornment, rode out of the grounds. 

“There goes a man who certainly loves life,” said 
Dalton. 

“And don’t you love it, and don’t I love it, Mr. 
Philosopher and Cynic?” said Harry. 

“So we do. But, as General Jackson said. General 
Stuart is a boy, younger than either of us.” 

“I hope to be the same kind of a boy when I’m 
his age.” 

Stuart was riding on, looking about with a luminous 
eye, fired by the spirit within him and the great land- 
scape spread out before him. It was a noble land- 
scape, the wooded ranges stretching to right and left, 
with the long sweep of rolling country between. The 
somber ruins of Fredericksburg were hidden from 
view just then, but in front of him flowed the great 
Rappahannock, still black with floods and ice yet float- 
ing near the banks. 


177 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Stuart drew a deep breath. It was a beautiful part 
of Virginia, old and with many fine manor houses 
scattered about. And the people, educated, polite, ac- 
customed to everything, gladly sacrificed all they had 
for the Confederacy in its hour of need. They had 
cut up their rugs and carpets and sent them to the 
great camp on the Rappahannock that the soldiers 
who had no blankets might use them. The cattle and 
poultry from the rich farms were also sent to Lee’s 
men. Virginia sacrificed herself for the Confederate 
cause with a devotion that would have brought tears 
from a stone. 

Some such thoughts as these were in the mind of 
Stuart as he rode toward his own camp. There was 
a mist for a few moments before the eyes of the 
great horseman, but as it cleared he became once more 
his natural self, the gayest of the gay. He hummed 
joyously as he rode along, and the refrain of his 
song was : ‘‘Old Joe Hooker, won’t you come out of 
the Wilderness?” 

Harry and Dalton had gone back to the big mess 
tent and were already arraying themselves with the 
utmost care for Jeb Stuart’s ball. Their clothes were 
in good condition now. After the long rest they had 
been able to brush and furbish up their best uniforms, 
until they were both neat and bright. They had no 
thought of rivalling St. Clair, who undoubtedly would 
be there, but they were satisfied — they never expected 
to rival St. Clair in that respect. But they were splen- 
did youths, fine, tall, upstanding, and with frank eyes 
and tanned faces. 


178 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


‘Will many girls be there ?” asked Dalton. 

“Of course. They’ll come in from all the country 
around to be at Jeb Stuart’s ball. I wish we could 
invite a few of the Yankees over to see what girls we 
have in Virginia.” 

“That would be fine, but Hooker wouldn’t let ’em, 
and Lee and Jackson would certainly disapprove.” 

Harry and Dalton started at twilight, and on their 
way they met Captain Sherburne, who was bound for 
the same place. The captain was pretty fond of good 
dress himself, and he, too, had a new uniform, per- 
haps not so bright as St. Clair’s, but fine and vivid, 
nevertheless. 

“Well, well,” said Harry, as he greeted him heartily. 
“You’ve got a lot of shine about you, but you just 
watch out for St. Clair. He’s sure to be there, and 
he has a new uniform straight from Charleston. He’s 
making the most of it, too. Now may be the time to 
settle that sartorial rivalry between you.” 

“All right,” said Sherburne joyously. “I’m ready. 
Come on.” 

The house, a large one standing in ample grounds, 
was already lighted as brilliantly as time and circum- 
stances afforded. It is true that most of these lights 
were of home-made tallow candles, because no other 
illumination was to be had, and they made a brave 
show to these soldiers who were used so long only to 
the light of their fires and the moon and stars. 

Before these lights people were passing and repass- 
ing, and the sounds of pleasant voices reached their 
ears. But they were stopped by four figures just 


179 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


emerging from the shadows. The four were Colonel 
Leonidas Talbot, just returned from Richmond, Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, Lieutenant Arthur St. 
Clair, and Lieutenant Thomas Langdon, all arrayed 
with great care and bearing themselves haughtily. 
Sherburne and St. Clair cast quick glances at each 
other. But each remained content, because the taste 
of each was gratified. 

The meeting was most friendly. Harry and Dalton 
were very glad to see Colonel Talbot, whom they had 
missed very much, but Harry detected at once a note 
of anxiety in the voice of each colonel. 

“Hector,” said Colonel Talbot, “I. shall certainly 
dance. What, go to Jeb Stuart’s ball and not dance, 
when the fair and bright young womanhood of Vir- 
ginia is present? And I a South Carolinian! What 
would they think of my gallantry. Hector, if I 4id 
not?” 

“It is certainly fitting, Leonidas. I used to be a 
master myself of all the steps, waltz and gavotte and 
the Virginia reel and the others. Once, when I was 
only twenty, I went to New Orleans to visit my 
cousins, the de Crespignys, and many of them there 
were, four brothers, with seven or eight children 
apiece, mostly girls; and ’pon my soul, Leonidas, for 
the two months I was gone I did little but dance. 
What else could one do when he had about twenty 
girl cousins, all of dancing age? We danced in New 
Orleans and we danced out on the great plantation of 
Louis de Crespigny, the oldest of the brothers, and 
all the neighbors for miles around danced with us. 

i8o 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


There was one of my cousins, a third cousin only she 
was, Flora de Crespigny, just seventeen years of age, 
but a beautiful girl, Leonidas, a most beautiful girl — 
they ripen fast down there. Once at the de Crespigny 
plantation I danced all day and all the night following, 
mostly with her. Young Gerard de Langeais, her be- 
trothed, was furious with jealousy, and just after 
the dawn, neither of us having yet slept, we fought 
with swords behind the live oaks. I was not in love 
with Flora and she was not in love with me, but de 
Longeais thought we were, and would not listen to 
my claim of kinship. 

“I received a glorious little scratch on my left side 
and he suffered an equally glorious little puncture in 
his right arm. The seconds declared enough. Then 
we fell into the arms of each other and became friends 
for life. A year later I went back to New Orleans, 
and I was the best man at the wedding of Gerard and 
Flora, one of the happiest and handsomest pairs I ever 
saw, God bless ’em. Their third son, Julien, is in a 
regiment in the command of Longstreet, and when I 
look at him I see both his father and his mother, at 
whose wedding I danced again for a whole day and 
night. But now, Leonidas, I fear that my knees 
are growing a little stiff, and think of our age, 
Leonidas !” 

“Age ! age ! Hector Lucien Philip Etienne St. 
Hilaire, how dare you talk of age! Your years are 
exactly the same as mine, and I can outride, outwalk, 
outdance, and, if need be, make love better than any 
of these young cubs who are with us. I am aston- 


i8i 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


ished at you, Hector! Why, it’s been only a few 
years since you and I were boys. We’ve scarcely 
entered the prime of life, and we’ll show ’em at Jeb 
Stuart’s ball I” 

'That’s so, Leonidas, and you do well to rebuke 
me,” and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire puffed 
out his chest — he was, in fact, a fine figure of a man. 
"We’ll go to Jeb Stuart’s ball, as you say, and in the 
presence of the Virginia fair show everybody what 
real men are.” 

"And we’ll be glad to see you do it, Colonel,” said j 
Sherburne. 

The dancing had not yet begun, but as they entered 
the grounds the Acadian band swung into the air of 
the Marseillaise, playing the grand old Revolutionary 
tune with all the spirit and fervor with which French- 
men must have first played and sung it. Then it 
swung into the soul-stirring march of Dixie, and a 
wild shout, which was partly feminine, came from 
the house. 

The two colonels had walked on ahead, leaving the 
young officers together. Langdon caught sight of a 
figure standing before an open door, with a fire blaz- 
ing in a large fireplace serving as a red background. ■ 
That background was indeed so brilliant that every 
external detail of the figure could be seen. Langdon, 
stopping, pulled hard on the arms of Harry and Sher- 
burne. 

"Halt all !” he said, "and tell me if in very truth I 
see what I see !” 

"Go on!” said St. Clair. 


182 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


‘Ttem No. one, a pink dress of some gauzy, filmy 
stuff, with ruffle after ruffle around the skirt.” 

“Correct.” 

“Item No. two, a pink slipper made of silk, per- 
chance, with the toe of it just showing beyond the 
hem of the skirt.” 

“You observe well, my lord.” 

“Item three, a fair and slim white hand, and a round 
and beautiful wrist.” 

“Correct. Again thou observest well, Sir 
Launcelot.” 

“Item four, a rosy young face which the firelight 
makes more rosy, and a crown of golden hair, which 
this same firelight turns to deeper gold.” 

“Correct, ye Squire of Fair Ladies; and now, 
lead on!” 

They entered the great house and found it already 
filled with officers and women, most of whom were 
young. The visitors had brought with them the best 
supplies that the farms could furnish, turkeys, chick- 
ens, hams, late fruits well preserved, and, above all, 
that hero-worship with which they favored their 
champions. To these girls and their older sisters 
the young officers who had taken part in so many 
great battles were like the knights of old, splendid and 
invincible. 

There was no warning note in all that joyous scene, 
although a hostile army of one hundred and thirty- 
five thousand men and four hundred guns lay on the 
other side of the river which flowed almost at their 
feet. It seemed to Harry afterward that they danced 

183 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


in the very face of death, caring nothing for what 
the dawn might bring. 

Stuart was in great feather. In his finest apparel 
he was the very life and soul of the ball, and these 
people forgot for a while the desolation into which 
war was turning their country. The Virginia band 
and the Acadians carried on an intense but friendly 
rivalry, playing with all the spirit and vigor of men 
who were anxious to please. It was a joy to Harry 
when he was not dancing to watch them, especially 
the Acadians, whose faces glowed as the dancers and 
their own bodies swayed to the music they were 
making. 

Harry and his comrades were very young, but youth 
matures rapidly in war, and they felt themselves men. 
In truth they had done the deeds of men for two years 
now, and they were treated as such by the others. 
Bertrand also was present, and while he cast a dark 
look or two at St. Clair, he kept away from him. 

Bye and bye another young man, obviously of 
French blood, appeared. But he was not dark. He 
had light hair, blue eyes, and he was tall and slender. 
But the pure strain of his Gallic blood showed, never- 
theless, as clearly as if he had been born in Northern 
France itself. Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire 
welcomed him with warmth and pride and introduced 
him to the lads, who at that moment were not dancing. 

'This is that young cousin of mine of whom I was 
speaking,” he said. "It is Julien de Langeais, son of 
that beautiful cousin. Flora de Crespigny, and of that 
gallant and noble man, Gerard de Langeais, with 

184 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


whom I fought the duel. I did not know that you 
would be here, Julien, and the surprise makes the 
pleasure all the greater.” 

“I did not know myself, sir, until an hour ago, that 
I could come,” replied young de Langeais, “but it is a 
glorious sight, sir, and I’m truly glad to be here.” 

His eyes sparkled at the sight of the dancers and 
his feet beat time to the music. Harry saw that here 
was one who was in love with life, a soul akin to that 
of Langdon, and he and his comrades liked him at once 
and without reservations. Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hi- 
laire saw how they received him and his splendid mus- 
taches curled up with pleasure. 

“Go with them, Julien,” he said, “and they will see 
that you enjoy yourself to the full. They are good 
boys. Meanwhile I have a dance with that beautiful 
Mrs. Edgehill, and if I am not there, Leonidas, hon- 
orable and lofty-minded as he is, but weak where the 
ladies are concerned, will insert himself into my 
place.” 

“Go, sir. Do not delay on my account,” said young 
de Langeais. “I’m sure that I’ll fare well here.” 

Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire hurried away. Both 
he and Colonel Talbot were fully maintaining their 
reputations as dancing men. St. Clair and Langdon 
had partners, and making apologies they left to join 
them. Harry and Dalton remained with de Langeais. 

“Colonel St. Hilaire said that you were with Long- 
street,” said Harry. 

“I am, or rather was. At least our regiment be- 
longs with him, but when he was detached to meet 

185 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


the possible march on Richmond we were left witlj 
General Lee, and I am glad of it.’' 

“The great operations are sure to be where Lee 
and Jackson are.” 

They got along so well that in another hour they 
felt as if they had known de Langeais all their lives. 
The night lengthened. Refreshments were served at 
times, but the dancers took them in relays. The dan- 
cing in the ballroom never ceased, and Jeb Stuart 
nearl}^ always led it. 

It was after midnight now and Harry and his new 
friend, de Langeais, throwing their military cloaks 
over their shoulders, walked out on one of the porti- 
cos for air. Many people, black and white, had gath- 
ered as usual to watch the dancing. 

Harry glanced at them casually, and then he saw a 
large figure almost behind the others. His intuition 
was sudden, but he had not the least doubt of its ac- 
curacy. He merely wondered why he had not looked 
for the man before. 

“Come with me a minute,” he said to de Langeais, 
and they walked toward the tree. But Shepard was 
gone, and Harry had expected that, too. He did not 
intend to hunt for him any further, because he was 
sure not to find him. 

The brilliant spirit of the ball suddenly departed 
from him, and as he and de Langeais went back 
toward the house it was the stern call of war that 
came again. The deep boom of a cannon rolled from 
a point on the Rappahannock, and Harry was not the 
only one who fdt the chill of its note. The dancing 


i86 


JEB STUART’S BALL 


stopped for a few moments. Then the gloom passed 
away, and it was resumed in all its vigor. 

But Stuart came out on the porch and Harry and 
de Langeais halted, because they heard the hoofs of 
a galloping horse. The man who came was in the 
dress of a civilian, and he brought a message. 


CHAPTER VIII 


IN THE WILDERNESS 

S TUART’S brilliant figure was seen no more in 
the ballroom that night, but he disappeared so 
quietly that his absence created no alarm at first. 
There was a low call for Sherburne, and the great cav- 
alry leader and his most daring horsemen were soon 
up and away. Harry and Dalton, standing under the 
boughs of an oak, near the edge of the grounds, saw 
them depart, but the dancers, at least the women and 
girls, knew nothing. 

Another cannon shot came from some distant point 
along the stream, and its somber echoes rolled and 
died away among the hills, but the music of the band 
in the ballroom did not cease. :It was the Acadians 
who were playing now, some strange old dance tune 
that they had brought from far Louisiana, taken 
thence by the way of Nova Scotia from its origin in 
old France. 

^They don’t know yet,” said Harry, ‘Tut I’m think- 
ing it will be the last dance for many a day.” 

“Looks like it,” said Dalton. “What time is it, 
Harry?” 


i88 


IN THE WILDERNESS 


'Tast two in the morning, and here comes Colonel 
Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. 

The two colonels walked out on the lawn. Military 
cloaks were thrown over their shoulders and all signs 
of merry-making were gone from their faces. They 
stood side by side and with military glasses were 
sweeping the horizon toward the river. Presently they 
saw Harry and Dalton standing under the boughs of 
the oak, and beckoned to them. 

“You know?” said Colonel Talbot. 

“Yes, sir, we do,” replied Harry. “We saw Gen- 
eral Stuart and his staff ride away, because a mes- 
senger had come, stating that divisions of Hooker’s 
army were about to cross the Rappahannock.” 

“That is true, but we wish no panic here. Go back 
in the house, lads, and dance. Officers are scarcer 
there than they were a half hour ago. But you two 
lads will return to General Jackson before dawn, while 
Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire and I will gather up 
our young men and return to our own place.” 

Harry and Dalton obeyed promptly, and took their 
places again in the dancing, but they soon discovered 
that the spirit was gone from it. The absence of 
Stuart, Sherburne and others almost as conspicuous 
was soon noted, and although those who knew gave 
various excuses, they were not satisfactory. Gradu- 
ally the belief spread that the long vacation was over. 
After Fredericksburg the armies had spent four 
months in peace along the Rappahannock, but there 
was a certainty in the minds of all that the armed 
peace had passed. 


189 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


The music ceased bye and bye, the girls and the 
women went away in their carriages or on horseback, 
the lights were put out, and the heroes of the ball- 
room, veterans of the battlefield, too, went quietly to 
their commands once more. The youths, including 
their new friend, Julien de Langeais, parted shortly 
before dawn, and their parting was characteristic. 

“See you again, I think, at the edge of the Wilder- 
ness, where we’ll be holding converse with Hooker,” 
said St. Clair. 

“At any rate you can look for me in the White 
House with my boots on,” said Happy Tom, return- 
ing to his original boast. 

Then they shook hands and hurried away to join 
the two colonels, leaving de Langeais with Dalton 
and Harry. 

“Gallant spirits,” said the young Louisianian. “I 
like them.” 

“As fine as silk, both of them,” said Harry with 
enthusiasm. “I’m glad we’ve met you, de Langeais, 
and I hope you’ll be equally glad you’ve met us. We’ll 
see you again after the battle, whenever and wherever 
it may be.” 

“Many thanks,” said de Langeais. “It gives me 
much pride to be taken into your company. My com- 
mand is several miles away, and therefore I must ride. 
Adieu.” 

He was holding his horse’s reins as he spoke. Then 
he leaped lightly into the saddle and was gone. 

“A brave and true spirit, if I know one,” said Harry. 
“And now come, George, the sooner we get back to 

190 


IN THE WILDERNESS 


Old Jack’s headquarters the better it will be for us.” 

you think Hooker’s army can cross?” asked 
Dalton, looking at the black river. 

“Of course it can. Remember that they have four 
hundred guns with which they can cover a passage. 
Didn’t Burnside build his bridges and force the cross- 
ing in our face, when we had twenty thousand more 
men than we have now, and the Union army had 
twenty thousand less ? Their line is so long and they 
are so much superior in numbers that we can’t guard 
all the river. As I take it, Lee and Old Jack will 
not make any great opposition to the crossing, but 
there will be a thunderation of a time after it’s 
made.” 

It was sunrise when they reached their own head- 
quarters and entered the great mess tent, where some 
of the officers who had not gone to the ball were al- 
ready eating breakfast. They said that the general 
had been awake more than two hours and that he was 
taking his breakfast, too, in the hunting lodge. He 
sent for various officers from time to time, and pres- 
ently Harry’s turn came. 

Jackson was sitting at a small table, upon which 
his breakfast had been laid. But all that had been 
cleared away long ago. He was reading in a small 
book when Harry entered, a book that the youth knew 
well. It was a copy of Napoleon’s Maxims, which 
Jackson invariably carried with him and read often. 
But he closed it quickly and put it in his pocket. Dur- 
ing the long rest Jackson’s face had become somewhat 
fuller, but the blue eyes under the heavy brows were 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


as deep and thoughtful as ever. He nodded to Harry 
and said: 

“You were present when General Stuart received 
the message that the enemy was advancing? Was 
anything more ascertained at the time? Did any 
other messenger come?” 

“No, sir. General Stuart mounted and rode at once. 

I remained at the ball until its close. No other mes- 
senger came there for him. Of that I am sure.” 

“Very well, very well,” said Jackson to himself, 
rather than to the young lieutenant. “One message 
was enough. Stuart has acted promptly, as he always 
does. You, Mr. Kenton, I judge have been up all 
night dancing?” 

“Most all of it, sir.” 

“We must get ready now for another and less 
pleasant kind of dancing. But nothing will happen 
to-day. You’d better sleep. If you are needed you 
will be called.” 

Harry saluted and withdrew. At the door he ' 
glanced back. Jackson had taken out Napoleon’s 
Maxims and was reading the volume again. The 
brow was seamed with thought, but his countenance 
was grave and steady. Harry never forgot any look 
or act of his great chief in those days when the 
shadow of Chancellorsville was hovering near. 

A dozen officers were in the mess tent, and they 
talked earnestly of various things, but Harry, un- 
heeding their voices, lay down in a corner without 
taking off his clothes and went quietly to sleep. Many 
came into the tent or went out of it in the course of 


192 


IN THE WILDERNESS 


the morning, but none of them disturbed him. A man 
in the army slept when he could, and there was none 
wicked enough to awaken him until the right time 
for it. 

He slept heavily nearly all through the day, and 
shortly after he awoke Sherburne and two other 
officers, their horses splashed with mud, rode up to 
the hunting lodge. Jackson was standing in the door, 
and with a rising inflection he uttered one word: 

‘‘Well?’’ 

“It’s true. General,” said Sherburne. “The enemy 
is advancing in heavy force toward Kelly’s Ford. 
We saw them with our own eyes. General Stuart 
asked me to tell you this. He did not come himself, 
because, as well as we can ascertain. General Hooker 
has separated his army into two or three great divi- 
sions and they are seeking the crossing at different 
fords or ferries.” 

“As I thought,” said Jackson. “It’s the advantage 
given them by their great numbers and powerful ar- 
tillery. Ride back to General Stuart, Captain, and 
tell him that I thank him, and you, too, for your 
diligence.” 

Sherburne, flushing deep with gratification, took 
off his cap and bowed. But he knew too well to waste 
any time in words. 

That night the Union army laid its pontoon bridges 
again across the Rappahannock near Fredericksburg 
and began to cross in great force. Hooker, like 
Burnside four months before, was favored by thick 
fogs, but he met with practically no resistance. At 


193 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


dawn a strong force tinder Sedgwick was across at 
Deep Run, and another as strong had made the pas- 
sage at Kelly’s Ford. 

The advanced riflemen of Sedgwick were engaged 
in scattered firing with those of Jackson before the 
fog had yet lifted, but the main force had made no 
movement. Dalton had been sent at dawn with a 
message telling Lee that Sedgwick was over the river. 
Dalton, some time after his return, told Harry of his 
ride and reception. 

“When I rode up,” he said, “General Lee was in 
his tent. An aide took me in and I gave him the 
message. He did not show any emotion. Several 
others were present, some of them staff officers as 
young as myself. He turned to them and said, smil- 
ing a little: ‘Well, I heard firing not long since, and 
I had concluded that it was about time for some of 
you young idlers to come and tell me what it was all 
about. Go back to General Jackson, Mr. Dalton, and 
tell him that I send him no orders now. He knows as 
well what to do in the face of the enemy as I do.’ 
I brought this message, word for word, just as Gen- 
eral Lee delivered it to me, and General Jackson smiled 
a little, just as General Lee had done. It’s my opin- 
ion, Harry, that Lee and Old Jack haven’t the slightest 
fear of the enemy.” 

Harry was convinced of it, too, but he felt also 
the steadily hardening quality of the Army of the 
Potomac. Whatever Hooker might be he was neither 
dilatory nor afraid. He and his comrades saw the 
corps of Sedgwick entrenching on the Confederate 


194 


IN THE WILDERNESS 


side of the river, and they also saw the great batteries 
still frowning from Stafford Heights, ready to protect 
their men on the plain near Fredericksburg. 

But Jackson made no movement. He watched the 
enemy calmly, and meanwhile messengers passed be- 
tween him and Lee. Both were waiting to see what 
their enemy, who was displaying unusual energy, 
would do. In the evening they received news that 
the Union troops had crossed the river at two more 
points. They still remained stationary, waiting, and 
without alarm. 

Cavalrymen on both sides were active, ranging over 
a wide area. Stuart came the next morning, having 
taken prisoners from whom he learned that three 
more Union corps led by Meade, Slocum and Howard, 
all famous names, had crossed the river and were 
advancing toward a little place called Chancellorsville 
on the edge of a region known as the Wilderness. 
The Southern general, Anderson, with a much smaller 
force, was falling back before them. 

The Northern leaders had now shown the energy 
and celerity which hitherto had so often marked the 
Southern. Hooker, with seventy thousand splendid 
troops, had gone behind Lee and now three divisions 
were united in the forest close to Chancellorsville. 
Sedgwick, with his formidable corps, lay in the plain 
of Fredericksburg, facing Jackson, and thousands of 
Northern cavalry rode on the Southern flanks. 

Harry was bewildered, and so were many officers 
of much higher rank than he. It seemed that the 
Confederate army, surrounded by overwhelming num- 


195 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Bers, was about to be crushed. The exultation of 
Hooker at the success of his movements against such 
able foes was justified for the moment. He issued 
to his army a general order, which said : 

It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the commanding 
general announces to his army that the operations of the 
last three days have determined that our enemy must 
either ingloriously fly or come out from behind his de- 
fences, and give us battle on our own ground, where cer- 
tain destruction awaits him. 

Hooker, it can be said again, had cause for exul- 
tation. He was closing in with more than a hundred 
thousand stern fighters, and ten thousand splendid 
cavalrymen under Stoneman were hanging on the 
Southern flank, ready to cut off retreat. Besides, 
there were reserves, and he could also join to the 
artillery the great batteries on Stafford Heights, on 
the left bank of the river, which had done such good 
service for the Army of the Potomac. He could go 
into action with men and guns outnumbering his 
enemy more than two to one, and Lee and Jackson 
would have no such hills and intrenchments as those 
which had protected them while they cut down the 
army of Burnside at Fredericksburg. 

Harry and his young comrades were lost in the 
mists and doubts of uncertainty. Nothing could 
shake their confidence in Lee and Jackson, but yet 
they were only human beings. Had the time come 
when there was more to be done than any men, great 
and brilliant as they might be, could do? Yet they 

196 


IN THE WILDERNESS 


refused to express their apprehensions to one another, 
and waited, their hearts now and then beating heavily. 

Thus the last day of April passed, and for Harry 
it was more fully surcharged with suspense and 
anxiety than any other that he had yet known. The 
forests and the fields were flush with the green of 
early spring. Little wild flowers were peeping up in 
the thickets, and now and then a bird, full throated, 
sang on a bough, indifferent to passing armies. 

But Harry saw a red tint over everything. The 
spirit of his great ancestor had descended upon him 
again. The acute sense which warned him of mighty 
and tragic events soon to come was alive and active. 
His mind traveled backward too. Sometimes he did 
not see the men around him, but saw instead Pendle- 
ton, the boys playing in the fields, and his father. 
He also saw again that log house in the Kentucky 
mountains, and the old, old woman who had known 
his great-grandfather, Henry Ware. Once more he 
heard like a whisper in his ears her parting words: 
‘Wou will come again, and you will be thin and pale 
and in rags, and you will fall at the door. I see you 
coming with these two eyes of mine.’’ 

What did they mean? What did those strange 
words mean ? It was the first time in a year, perhaps, 
that he had thought of that old, old woman, and the 
log house in the mountains. But he saw her now% and 
she was strangely vivid for one so old and so with- 
ered. Then she vanished, and for the time was for- 
gotten completely, because Lee and Jackson were rid- 
ing past, one on Traveler and the other on Little 


197 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Sorrel, and it was no time to be dreaming of glens 
in the mountains and their peace, because mighty 
armies were closing in, bent upon the destruction of 
each other. 

All that afternoon Harry heard in a half circle 
about him the distant moaning of cannon, and he 
caught glimpses of galloping horsemen. Stuart, 
equally at home on the floor of the ballroom or the 
field of battle, was leading his troopers in a daring cir- 
cuit. When he saw that the Army of the Potomac was 
moving toward Chancellorsville he had cut in on its 
right flank, taking prisoners, and when a Union regi- 
ment had stood in his way, attempting to bar his path 
to his own army, he had ridden over it and gone. 

All the time the sinister moaning of the guns on 
the far horizon never ceased. It was this distant 
threat that oppressed Harry more than anything else. 
It beat softly on the drums of his ears, and it said to 
him continually that his army must make a supreme 
effort or perish. General Jackson did not call upon 
him to do anything, and once he rode forward with 
Dalton and looked at Sedgwick’s Union masses upon 
the plains of Fredericksburg, still protected by the 
batteries which had not yet been moved from Stafford 
Heights. Harry thought, for a while, that Lee and 
Jackson would certainly attack there, but night came 
and they had made no movement for that purpose. 

But before the sun had set Harry with his glasses 
had been able to command a wide view. He saw high 
up in the air three captive balloons, from which some 
of Hooker’s officers looked upon the Southern intrench- 

198 


IN THE WILDERNESS 


ments. Hooker also had signalmen on every height, 
and an ample field telegraph. What Harry did not 
see he learned from the Southern scouts. It seemed 
impossible that Lee and Jackson could break through 
the circle of steel, and Hooker thought so, too. 

When the red sun set on that last day of April the 
confidence of the Northern general was at its height. 
He had sent word to Sedgwick to keep a close watch 
upon the enemy m his front, and if he exposed a weak 
point to attack and destroy him. And if he showed 
signs of retreat, also to follow and attack with the 
utmost vigor. 

The moaning of the cannon ceased with the night, 
and it brought Harry intense relief. He was glad 
that those guns were silent for a while, although he 
knew that they would be far busier on the morrow. 
The bands of red and yellow left by the sun sank 
away, and as the cool, spring night came down, a 
pleasant breeze began to blow through the forest. 
Harry felt all the thrill of a mighty movement which 
was at hand, but the nature of which he did not yet 
know. 

He had no wish to sleep. The feeling of tremen- 
dous events impending was too strong and his nervous 
system was keyed too highly for such thoughts to 
enter his mind. He was used to great battles now, 
but there was a mystery, a weirdness about the one 
near at hand that sometimes turned the blood in his 
veins to ice. 

They were not far from Fredericksburg, but the 
country about them looked wild and lonely, despite 


199 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


the fact that nearly two hundred thousand men were 
moving somewhere in those shades and thickets, pre- 
paring for desperate combat. Harry knew that just 
back of them lay the Wilderness, a desolate and som- 
ber region. Dalton, a Virginian, had been there, and 
he told Harry that in ordinary times one could walk 
through it for many miles without meeting a single 
human being. 

‘‘And they say that Hooker is along its edge with 
the bulk of his army,^’ said Dalton. “He is in our 
rear, ready to attack with his veterans. What con- 
clusion do you draw from it, Harry?” 

“I infer that Lee and Jackson will not attack Sedg- 
wick at Fredericksburg. They will go for Hooker. 
They will strike where the enemy is strongest. It’s 
their way, isn’t it?” 

“Right, of course, Harry. We’ll be marching 
against Hooker long before the dawn.” 

Dalton’s prediction came true earlier than he had 
expected. Jackson marched at midnight from his 
position on the Massaponnax Hills to join the small 
command of Anderson, which alone faced Hooker. 
He was as silent as ever, the figure bent forward a 
little and the brow knitted with thought. Close be- 
hind him came his staff, Harry and Dalton knee to 
knee. They had known as soon as Jackson mounted 
his horse and turned his head southwestward that 
they were marching toward the Wilderness and 
against Hooker. Sedgwick at Fredericksburg might 
do as he pleased. 

Harry and Dalton were glad. They were quite 


200 


IN THE WILDERNESS 


sure now that Lee and Jackson had formed their plan, 
and, as they had formed it, it must be good. It was 
a long ride under the moon and stars. There was 
but little talk along the lines. The noises were those 
of marching feet and not of men’s voices. All the 
troops felt the mystery and solemnity of the night 
and the deep import of their unknown mission. 

The dawn found them still marching, but that dawn 
was again heavy with the fogs and mists that rose 
from the broad river. The three Northern balloons 
could see nothing. The signalmen were of no avail. 
The clouds of vapor rolled over the ruins of Fred- 
ericksburg and along the hills south of the river. 
Neither Sedgwick and his men nor any of the Union 
officers on the other shore knew that Jackson had 
gone, leaving only a rear guard behind. Before the 
fog had cleared away Jackson with his fighting gen- 
erals had joined Anderson and they were forming a 
powerful line of battle near Chancellorsville and 
facing Hooker. 

Harry now heard much of this name Chancellors- 
ville, destined to become so famous, and he said it 
over and over again to himself. And yet it was not 
a town, nor even a village. Here stood a large house, 
with the usual pillared porticoes, built long since by 
the Chancellor family and inhabited by them in their 
generation, but now turned into a country inn. Yet 
it had importance. Roads ran from it in various 
directions and in territories very unlike, including the 
strange and weird region known as the Wilderness. 

Hooker had come through the Wilderness with his 


201 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


main force, and was now forming a line of battle in 
front of it in the open country, when for some rea- 
son never fully known he fell back on Chancellors- 
ville and began to concentrate his army in the edge 
of the Wilderness. 

Harry, riding with Dalton and some others to in- 
spect the enemy’s front through their glasses, saw 
this gloomy forest, destined to such a terrible fame 
not alone from the coming battle, but from others 
as great. Nature could have chosen no more fitting 
spot for the mighty sacrifice to save the Union, be- 
cause here everything is dark, solemn and desolate. 

For twenty miles one way and fifteen the other the 
Wilderness stretched its somber expanse. The an- 
cient forest had been cut away long since and the thin, 
light soil had produced a sea of scrub and thickets 
in its place, in which most of the houses were the huts 
of charcoal burners. The undergrowth and jungle 
were often impenetrable, save by some lone hunter 
or wild animal. The gnarled and knotted oaks were 
distorted and the bushes, even in the flush of a May 
morning, were black and ugly. At evening it was 
indescribably desolate, and save when the armies came 
there was no sound but the lone cry of the whip-poor- 
will, one of the saddest of all notes. 

It was upon this forest that Harry looked, and he 
wondered, as many officers much older and much 
higher in rank than he wondered, that Hooker, with 
forces so much superior, should draw back into its 
shades. And many of the Union generals, too, had 
protested in vain against Hooker’s orders. They 


202 


IN THE WILDERNESS 


knew, as the Confederate generals knew, that Hooker 
was a brave man, and they never understood it then 
or afterwards. 

‘‘It gives us our chance,’' said Dalton, with sudden 
intuition, to Harry. ‘We’ll carry the battle to them 
in the forest, and there numbers will not count so 
much.” 

“Look!” exclaimed Harry. “They’re withdrawing 
farther into the Wilderness. There go the last 
bayonets I” 

“It’s so,” said Dalton. “I can still see a few of 
them moving among the trees and thickets. Now 
they’re all gone. What does it mean?” 

“It means that Old Jack will follow into the Wil- 
derness, as sure as you and I are here. He isn’t the 
man to let an enemy retreat in peace.” 

“That’s so. There are the bugles calling, and it’s 
time for us to rejoin Old Jack.” 

Jackson was not more than a hundred yards away, 
and they were soon just behind him, riding slowly 
forward, while he swept the forest with his glasses. 
Riflemen sent far in advance began to fire, and from 
the forest came replies. Harry saw bits of earth and 
grass kicked up by the bullets, and now and then a 
man fell or, wounded, limped to the rear. 

There was no fog here and the day had become 
beautiful and brilliant, as became the first morning 
in May. The little white puffs of smoke arose all 
along the edges of the Wilderness, and, sailing above 
the trees and bushes, dissolved into the blue sky. It 
was yet only a skirmish between the Southern van- 


203 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


guard and the Northern vanguard, but the riflemen 
increased to hundreds and they made a steady volume 
of sound. Now and then the lighter guns were fired 
and the like replied from the thickets. 

Harry gazed intently at Jackson. Would he with 
his relatively small force follow Hooker into the 
Wilderness, despising the dangers of ambush and the 
possibility that his foe might turn upon him in over- 
whelming numbers? Lee was with the troops else- 
where, and Jackson for the present must rely upon 
his own judgment. 

But Jackson never hesitated. While the fire of the 
riflemen deepened he plunged into the Wilderness in 
pursuit of Hooker, who for some inscrutable reason 
was concentrating his masses about the Chancellor 
House for pitched battle. They advanced by two 
ways, a pike and a plank road, with Jackson himself 
on the plank road. 

Harry felt a strange prickling at the roots of his 
hair as the Wilderness closed in on pursuer and pur- 
sued, but it was only for a moment. The enemy far 
down the plank road held his attention. Many rifle- 
men were there and they were sending back bullets, 
most of which fell short. Now and then a curving 
shell struck among the bushes, burst, and hurt no one. 

It had grown darker when they entered the Wilder- 
ness. The scrub forest, not lofty enough for dignity 
and nobility, was nevertheless dense enough to shut 
out most of the sunlight. Despite the blaze of the 
firing, both pursuer and pursued were enveloped in 
heavy shadows. 


204 


IN THE WILDERNESS 


Harry had nothing to do but to keep near his 
general, in case he was wanted. But he watched 
everything with the utmost interest. Once he looked 
back and saw the Invincibles, few in number, but 
still preserving their regiment, marching in brave 
style along the plank road. Colonel Talbot and 
Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire were riding side 
by side at its head, and in all the army there were 
not two more erect and soldierly figures than 
theirs. 

They soon heard heavy artillery discharges from 
the other force on the pike, and the fire in front of 
them increased heavily. Nevertheless both forces 
pushed resolutely onward. Harry had no idea what 
it all meant. The movements of Hooker were a mys- 
I tery to him, but he felt the presence of an enveloping 
i danger, through which, however, he felt sure that the 
; sword of Jackson could slash. 

: He saw that the generals were neglecting no pre- 

' cautions. The scouts and hardy riflemen were now 
! pressing through all the forests and thickets, like 
: Indians trailing in the Wilderness. They kept the 
' two forces, the one on the plank road and the other 
1 on the pike, in touch. McLaws, who had shown so 
i much spirit and judgment at Antietam, led on the 
5 pike. 

Now the fighting increased on both roads. Bat- 
i teries faced batteries and cavalry charged. But Harry 
I felt all the time that these were not supreme efforts. 
The opposing force seemed to be merely a curtain 
before Hooker, and as the Southern army advanced 


205 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


the curtain was drawn steadily back, but it was al- 
ways there. 

One of the encounters rose almost to the dignity 
of a battle. A heavy division of Northern regulars 
drove in all the Southern skirmishers, but Jackson, 
sending forward a strong force, pushed back the 
regulars in their turn. Harry watched the fighting 
most of the time, but at other times he watched his 
general’s face. It was the usual impenetrable mask, 
but late in the afternoon Harry saw a sudden sparkle 
in the blue eye. He always believed that at that mo- 
ment the general divined the enemy’s intentions, but 
the boy never had any way of knowing. 

Scouts came in presently and reported that another 
heavy column was marching from the Rappahannock 
to join Hooker in the Wilderness, and now the ad- 
vance of the Southern force became slower. It was 
obvious to Harry that Jackson, while resolute to fol- 
low Hooker, intended to guard against all possibility 
of ambush. Harry knew nothing then of the Chan- 
cellor House, but Dalton told him. 

‘^It’s a big place,” he said, ^‘standing on a heavy 
ridge surrounded by thick timber, and it’s a natural 
presumption that Hooker will stop there. From the 
timbered ridge his cannon can sweep every ap- 
proach.” 

Harry had no doubt that Hooker would halt at 
the Chancellor House. It was incredible that a great 
army of brave and veteran troops should continue to 
retreat before a force which his scouts had surely 
informed Hooker was far smaller, and only a portion 


206 


IN THE WILDERNESS 


of the Confederate army. It must be merely a part 
of some comprehensive plan, and he was confirmed in 
his belief by the increasing stubbornness of the 
defense. 

There was not sufficient room on either the plank 
road or the pike for all the Confederate infantry, and 
masses were toiling through the dense thickets of 
bushes and briars and creeping vines. The afternoon 
was growing late, and while it was yet brilliant sun- 
shine in the open, it was dark and somber in the 
Wilderness. 

The division of Jackson seemed almost lost in the 
forest and undergrowth. The cavalry riding along 
some of the narrow paths were checked by large 
forces in front, and fell back under the protection of 
their own infantry. On another path a strong body 
of Southern skirmishers drove back those of the 
North, but were checked in their turn by a heavy fire 
of artillery. 

Harry witnessed the repulse of the Southern rifle- 
men and saw them crowding back down the path and 
through the bushes which lined it on either side. He 
also saw the usually calm and imperturbable face of 
Jackson show annoyance. The general signed to his 
staff, and, galloping forward a hundred yards or so, 
joined Stuart, who was just in front. Stuart also 
showed annoyance, but, more emotional than Jackson, 
he expressed it in a much greater degree. His face 
was red with anger. Harry, who as usual kept close 
behind his commander, heard their talk. 

‘"General Stuart,’’ said General Jackson, “we must 


207 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


find some position from which we can open a flanking 
fire upon that Northern battery.” 

‘'Aye, sir,” said Stuart. “Nothing would delight 
me more. The narrowness of the road, and their 
place at the head of it, give them an immense advan- 
tage. Ah, sir,, here is a bridle path leading to the 
right. Maybe it will give us a chance.” 

The two generals, followed by their staffs and a 
battery, turned from the main body into the narrow 
path and pushed their way between the masses of 
thick undergrowth, bearing steadily toward the right. 
But the road was so narrow that not more than two 
could go abreast, the generals in their eagerness still 
leading the way. 

Harry, rising up in his stirrups, tried to see over the 
dense undergrowth, but patches of saplings and scrub 
oaks farther on hid the view. Nevertheless he caught 
the flash of heavy guns and saw many columns of 
smoke rising. It was toward their left now, and they 
would soon be parallel with it, whence their own guns 
would open a flanking fire, if any open spot or eleva- 
tion could be found. 

They had gone about a half mile, when Stuart ut- 
tered an exclamation and pointed to a hillock. It was 
not necessary to say anything, because everyone knew 
that this was the place for the guns. 

“Now we’ll drop a few shells of our own among 
those Yankee gunners and see how they like it,” said 
Dalton. 

The cannon were unlimbering rapidly, but the open 
space on the hillock was so small that only one gun 


208 



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IN THE WILDERNESS 


could be brought up, and it sent a shot toward the 
Union lines. The Union artillery, superb as always, 
marked the spot whence the shot came, and in an 
instant two batteries, masked by the woods, poured a 
terrible fire upon the hillock and those about it: 

So deadly was the steel rain that the little force 
was put out of action at once. Harry had never 
beheld a more terrifying scene. Most of the horses 
and men around the first cannon were killed. One 
horse and one gunner fell dead across its wheels. 
Other horses, wounded and screaming with pain and 
fright, rushed into the dense undergrowth and were 
caught by the trailing vines and thrown down. Some 
of the cavalrymen themselves were knocked out of 
the saddle by the fleeing horses, but they quickly re- 
gained their seats. 

A second discharge from many guns sent another 
rain equally as deadly upon the hillock and its vicinity. 
More men and horses fell, and a scene of wild con- 
fusion followed. Attempting to turn about and 
escape from that spot of death, the cannon crashed 
together. There was not room for all the men and 
I horses and guns. Most of them were compelled to 
: plunge into the undergrowth and struggle desperately 
through it for shelter. 

But Harry did not forget the two generals who 
were worth so much to the South. It would be fate’s 
I bitterest irony if Jackson and Stuart were killed in 
I a small flanking movement, when, as was obvious to 
i everyone, a battle of the first magnitude was just be- 
j fore them. And yet, while fragments of steel, hot 
I' 


209 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


and hissing, fell all around them, Jackson and Stuart 
and all the members of their staffs escaped without 
hurt. 

The deadly fire followed them as they retreated, 
but the two generals rode on, unharmed. Harry and 
Dalton breathed deep sighs of relief when they were 
out of range. 

‘Tf a bullet had gone through my left side,” said 
Dalton, “it wouldn’t have come near my heart.” 

“Why not?” 

“Because my heart was in my mouth. In fact, I 
don’t think it has gone back yet to its natural place. 
The Yankees certainly have the guns.” 

“And the gunners w-ho know how to use them. 
But doesn’t it feel good, George, to be back on the 
plank road?” 

“It does. I’ll take my chance in open battle, but 
wdien I’m tangled up among bushes and vines and 
briars, I do hate to have a hundred-pound shell fired 
from an invisible gun burst suddenly on the top of my 
head. What’s all that firing off there to the left and 
farther on?” 

“It means that some of our people have got deeper 
into the Wilderness than we have, and are feeling 
out Hooker. I imagine wx won’t go much farther. 
Look how the night’s dropping down. I’d hate to pass 
a night alone in such a place as this Wilderness. It 
would be like sleeping in a graveyard.” 

“You won’t have to spend the night alone here. I 
wish I was as sure of Heaven as that. You’ll have 
something like two hundred thousand near neighbors.” 


210 


IN THE WILDERNESS 


! 

' The sun set and darkness swept over the Wilder- 
ness, but it was still lighted at many points by the 
flash of the firing and, after that ceased, by the camp- 
fires. Jackson’s advance was at an end for the time. 
He was fully in touch with his enemy and under- 
‘ stood him. Hooker had retreated as far as he would 
go. When the fog cleared away in the morning the 
men in the captive balloons had informed him that 
' heavy Southern columns were marching toward Chan- 
cellorsville. He was sure now that the full strength 
of the Southern army was before him, and he con- 
tinued to fortify the Chancellor House and the pla- 
teau of Hazel Grove. He also threw up log breast- 
works through the heavily wooded country, and his 
lines, bristling with artillery and defended now by 
six score thousand men, extended along a front of 
six miles. 

Jackson’s division lay in the Wilderness before 
: Hooker, but out of cannon shot. All along that vast 
front hundreds and hundreds of pickets and riflemen 
on either side were keeping a vigilant watch. Jack- 
son and his staff had dismounted and were eating 
their suppers around one of the campfires. The gen- 
eral was again impassive. 

After the, supper Harry walked a little distance 
and found the Invincibles, resting comfortably on the 
trodden undergrowth. The two colonels had pre- 
served the neatness of their attire, and whatever they 
felt, neither showed any anxiety. But St. Clair and 
Langdon were free of speech. 

“Well, Harry,” said Happy Tom, “is Old Jack 


211 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


going to send us up against intrenchments and four 
to one?” 

‘‘He hasn’t confided in me, but I don’t think he 
means to do any such thing. He remembers, as even 
a thick-head like you, Happy, would remember, how i 
the splendid army of Burnside beat itself to pieces 
against our works at Fredericksburg.” 

“Well, then, why are we here?” 

“There’s sense in your question, Tom, but I can’t * 
answer it.” ' 

“No, there isn’t any sense in it,” interrupted St. 
Clair. “Do you suppose for an instant that Lee and 
Jackson would bring us here if they didn’t have a 
mighty good reason for it?” 

“That’s so,” admitted Happy Tom; “but General 
Lee isn’t here. Yes, he is! Listen to the cheering!” 

They sprang to their feet and saw Lee coming 
through the woods on his white horse. Traveler, a 
roar of cheers greeting him as he advanced. Behind 
him came new brigades, and Harry believed that the 
whole Southern army was now united before Hooker. 

Lee dismounted and Jackson went forward to meet 
his chief. The staffs stood at a respectful distance as 
the two men met and began to talk, glancing now and 
then toward the distant lights that showed where the 
army of Hooker stood. 


CHAPTER IX 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 

H arry and Dalton sat down on a tiny hillock 
and waited while the two generals carried 
on their long conference, to which now and 
then they summoned McLaws, Anderson, Pender and 
other division or brigade commanders. The two lads 
even then felt the full import of that memorable night. 

Nature herself had stripped away all softness, leav- 
ing only sternness and desolation for the terrible 
drama which was about to be played in the Wilder- 
ness. The night was dark, and to Harry’s imagina- 
tive mind the forest turned to some vast stretch of the 
ancient, primitive world. 

Naturally cheerful and usually alive with the op- 
timism of youth, the air seemed to him that night to 
be filled with menacing signals. Often he started at 
familiar sounds. The clank of arms to which he had 
been so long used sent a chill down his spine. As the 
campfires died, the gloom that hung over the Wilder- 
ness became for him heavier and more ominous. 

‘‘What’s the matter, Harry?” asked Dalton, catch- 
ing a glimpse of his face in the moonlight. 


213 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


“I don’t know, George. I suppose this war is get- 
ting on my nerves. I must be looking too much into 
the future. Anyway, I’m oppressed to-night, and I 
don’t know what it is that’s oppressing me so much.” 

'1 don’t feel that way. Maybe I’m becoming 
blunted. But the generals are talking a long time.” 

“I suppose they have need to do a lot of talking, 
George. You know how small our army is, and we 
can’t rush Hooker behind the strong intrenchments 
they say he has thrown up. Oh, if only Longstreet 
and his corps were back with us!” 

“Well, Longstreet and his men are not here, and 
we’ll have to do the best we can without them. Hold 
up your head, Harry. Lee and Jackson will find a 
way.” 

While Lee and Jackson and their generals con- 
ferred, another conference was going on three miles 
away at the Chancellor House in the depths of the 
Wilderness. Hooker, a brave man, who had proved 
his courage more than once, was bewildered and un- 
easy. He lacked the experience in supreme command 
in which his great antagonist, Lee, was so rich. The 
field telegraph had broken down just before sunset, 
and his subordinates, Sedgwick and Reynolds, brave 
men too, who had divisions elsewhere, were vague 
and uncertain in their movements. Hooker did not 
know what to expect from them. 

Some of the generals, chafing at retreat before a 
force which they knew to be smaller than their own, 
wanted to march out and attack in the morning. 
Hooker, suddenly grown prudent, awed perhaps by 


214 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


his great responsibilities, wished to contract his camp 
and build intrenchments yet stronger. He compro- 
mised at last amid varying counsels, and decided to 
hold his present intrenched lines along their full 
length. His gallant officers on the extended right and 
left were indignant at the thought of withdrawing 
before the enemy, sure that they could beat him back 
every time. 

But there were bolder spirits at the Southern head- 
quarters, three miles away. Lee and Jackson always 
saw clearly and were always able to decide upon a 
course. Besides, their need was far more desperate. 
The Southern army did not increase in numbers. 
Victories brought few new men to its standards. 
Winning, it held its own, and losing, it lost every- 
thing. Before it stood the Army of the Potomac, 
outnumbering it two to one, and behind that army 
stood a great nation ready to pour forth more men 
by the hundreds of thousands and more money by 
the hundreds of millions to save the Union. 

Harry, leaning against a bush, fell into a light doze, 
from which Dalton aroused him bye and bye. But 
the habit of war made him awake fully and instantly. 
Every faculty was alive. He arose to his feet and 
saw that Lee and Jackson were just parting. A faint 
moon shone over the Wilderness, revealing but little 
of the great army which lay in its thickets. 

^T fancy that the plan which will give us either 
victory or defeat is arranged,” said Dalton. 

But neither Harry nor Dalton was called, and bye 
and bye they sank into another doze. They were 


215 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


awakened toward morning by Sherburne, who stood 
before them holding his horse by the bridle. The 
horse was wet with foam, and it was evident that he 
had been ridden far and hard. 

‘^What is it?” asked Harry, springing to his feet. 

‘TVe been riding with General Stuart,” replied 
Sherburne, who looked worn and weary, but never- 
theless exultant. ‘‘How many miles we’ve ridden I’ll 
never know, but we’ve been along the whole Northern 
front and around their wings. With the help of Fitz 
Lee we’ve discovered their weak point. The North- 
ern left, fortified in the thickets, is impossible. We’d 
merely beat ourselves to pieces against it; but their 
right has no protection at all, that is, no trenches or 
breastworks. I thought you boys might be wanted 
presently, and, as I saw you sleeping here, I’ve awak- 
ened you. Look down there and you’ll see something 
that I think the Northern army has cause to dread.” 

Harry and Dalton looked at a little open space in 
the center of which Lee and Jackson sat, having met 
for another talk, each on an empty cracker box, taken 
from a heap which the Northern army had left be- 
hind when it withdrew the day before. The generals 
faced each other and two or three men were standing 
by. One of them was a major named Hotchkiss, 
whom Harry knew. 

Harry and Dalton did not hear the words said, 
but one of those present subsequently told them much 
that was spoken at this last and famous conference. 
A man named Welford had recently cut a road toward 
the northwest through the Wilderness in order that 


216 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


he might haul wood and iron ore to a furnace that he 
had built. He had certainly never dreamed of the 
far more important purpose to which this road would 
be put, but he had been found at his home by Hotch- 
kiss, the major, and, zealous for the South, he had 
given him the information that was of so much value. 
He had also volunteered to guide the troops along 
his road and he had marked it on a map which the 
major carried. 

“What is your report, Major Hotchkiss?” asked 
General Lee. 

The major took a cracker box from the heap, put 
it between the two generals, and spread his map upon 
it, pointing to Wei ford’s road. The two generals 
studied it attentively, and then Lee asked Jackson 
what he would suggest. Jackson traced the road with 
his finger and replied that he would like to follow it 
with his whole corps and fall upon the Northern 
flank. He suggested that he leave his commander 
with only a small force to make a noisy demonstra- 
tion in the Northern front, while Jackson was execut- 
ing his great turning movement. 

Lee considered it only a few moments and agreed. 
Then he wrote brief and crisp instructions, and when 
he finished, General Jackson rose to his feet, his face 
illumined with eagerness. He was absolutely confi- 
dent that he would succeed in the daring deed he was 
about to undertake. 

“It’s over,” said Dalton. “Whatever it is, we start 
on it at once.” 

Jackson beckoned to all his staff, and soon Harry, 
217 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Dalton and the others were busy carrying orders for 
a great march that Jackson was about to begin. Many 
of these orders related to secrecy. The ranks were 
to be kept absolutely close and compact. If anybody 
straggled he was to receive the bayonet. 

The Invincibles were in the vanguard. Harry and 
Dalton were near, behind Jackson. Harry could 
speak now and then with his friends. 

“It’s the Second Manassas over again, isn’t it, 
Harry?” said St. Clair. 

“If it is, why do we seem to be marching away from 
the enemy?” 

“I don’t know any more than you do. But I take 
it that when Stonewall Jackson draws back from the 
enemy he merely does it in order to make a bigger 
jump. We all know that.” 

The dark South Carolinian, Bertrand, was riding 
just in front of them. Now he turned suddenly and 
said: 

“St. Clair, we’re about to go into a great battle, 
and I’ve felt for some time that I provoked the quar- 
rel with you. I’m sorry and I apologize.” 

St. Clair looked astonished, but he was not one to 
refuse so manly an advance. 

“That’s so. Captain, we did have a quarrel,” he 
said, “but I had forgotten it. It’s not necessary for 
anybody to apologize where there’s no rancor.” 

He took Bertrand’s hand in a hearty grasp, which 
Bertrand returned with equal vigor. Then the cap- 
tain pushed his horse and rode a little ahead of them. 

“Now, that was a singular thing,” said Dalton, who 


218 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


came of a deeply religious family, ^'and to my mind 
it was predestined/' 

^'Predestined ?" 

"Yes, predestined! Decreed! Captain Bertrand is 
going to die. He’ll be killed in the coming battle. He 
was moved to make up the quarrel which he forced on 
St. Clair because of his approaching fate, although 
he does not know of it himself." 

"Come, come, George! So much battle has keyed 
your mind too highly." 

But Dalton shook his head and remained resolute 
in his belief. 

Harry’s confidence returned with action and the 
glorious flush of a May morning. They had started 
after dawn. A splendid sun was rising in a sky of 
satin blue. It even gilded the somber foliage of the 
Wilderness, and the spirits of all the men in the great 
corps rose. 

Jackson stopped presently with his staff and let 
some of the regiments file past him. General Lee 
was awaiting him there and the two talked briefly. 
Harry saw that both were firm and confident. It was 
rare with him, but Jackson’s face was flushed and his 
eyes shining. He lingered for only a few moments, 
and then rode on with his column. Lee’s eyes fol- 
lowed him, but he and his great lieutenant had spoken 
together for the last time. 

Now they settled into silence, save for the march- 
ing sounds, of which the most dominant was the 
rumbling of the artillery. But all the men in the great 
column knew that they were embarked upon some 


219 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


mighty movement. Very few asked themselves what 
it was. Nor did they care. They put their faith in 
the great leader who had always led them to victory. 
He could lead them where he chose. 

A light wind arose and the bushes and scrub forest 
of the Wilderness moved gently like the swrface of a 
lake. But that forest, as dense as ever, extended on 
all sides of them and hid the tens of thousands who 
marched in its shade. 

Harry presently heard the rolling of artillery fire 
and the distant crash of rifles behind them. But he 
knew that it was Lee with the minor portion of his 
army making the demonstration in Hooker’s front, 
deceiving him into the belief that he was about to be 
attacked by the whole Southern army, while Jackson 
with his main force was making the wide circuit under 
cover of the Wilderness in order to fall like a thun- 
derbolt upon his flank. 

Harry admired the daring of his two leaders, and 
at the same time he trembled with apprehension. 
They had split their force, already far smaller, in the 
face of the foe. Suppose that foe, with his army of 
splendid fighters, should come suddenly from his in- 
trenchments and attack either division. Surely the 
Northern scouts and spies were in the thickets. So 
great a movement as this could not escape their atten- 
tion. It would be impossible for a large army to 
pass on that journey of many miles around Hooker 
and not one of the hundred thousand men he had in 
the Wilderness bring him a word of it. 

They might be discovered by one of the balloons, 


220 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


and Harry strained his eyes toward the far Rappa- 
hannock. He saw a black speck floating in the sky, 
which he thought to be one of the balloons, and he 
felt a little dread, but in a moment he realized that 
Jackson’s army was as completely hidden by the Wil- 
derness from any such possible observer as if a blanket 
lay over it. Then he dismissed all thoughts of bal- 
loons and rode on in silence beside Dalton. 

Now he listened to the roar behind them. It had 
the violence of a great battle, but he noticed that the 
sounds neither advanced nor retreated. He smiled a 
little. Lee was still amusing Hooker, but it was a 
grim amusement. 

A long time passed. Although the army could not 
move fast in the Wilderness, its march was steady. 
The roar of Lee’s attack had become subdued, but 
Harry knew that the effect was due only to distance. 
His trained ear told him that the demonstration in 
Hooker’s front, instead of decreasing, had increased 
in vigor. It was assuming the proportions of a real 
battle, and with thickets and forests to obscure sight. 
Hooker might well believe that the whole Southern 
army was yet in front of him. 

The onward march had become rhythmic now. It 
was to Harry like the regular throbbing of a pulse. 
The tread of many men, the beat of horses’ hoofs, 
and the clanking of guns melted into one musical note. 
The sun crept slowly up, gilding thickets and forests 
with pure gold. The sky was still an unbroken blue, 
save for the little white clouds that floated in its 
bosom. The breeze of that May morning was won- 


221 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


der fully crisp and fresh. It came tingling with life 
to the thousands, so many of whom were about to die. 

It seemed to Harry as they went on through the 
thickets of the Wilderness that the Union scouts 
would never discover them, but Northern troops on 
an open eminence of Hazel Grove had seen a long 
column moving away through the thickets and made 
report of it to the Northern generals. But these 
leaders did not understand it. They had not grasped 
the great daring of Jackson’s march. 

They believed that Lee was merely extending his 
lines, but an hour before noon a battery opened fire 
from a hill upon the marching Confederate column. 
Harry and Dalton heard shrapnel whizzing over their 
heads. After the first involuntary shiver they re- 
gained the calm of youthful veterans and rode on in 
silence. 

But the fire of the Northern artillery was damag- 
ing, even at great range. Shells and shrapnel sprayed 
showers of steel over the column. Men were killed 
and others wounded. As they could not turn back to 
fight those troublesome cannon, the column turned 
farther away and forced a road through a new path. 
It seemed now that Jackson’s march was discovered 
and that the whole Northern army might press in be- 
tween him and Lee. Harry’s heart rose in his throat 
and he looked at his general. But Jackson rode 
calmly on. 

The curiosity of the Union generals in regard to 
that marching column increased. Several of them ap- 
pealed to Hooker to let them advance in force and 


222 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


i ' see what it was. Sickles was allowed to go out with 
' a strong division, but instead of reaching Jackson he 
i was confronted by a portion of Lee’s force, thrown 
1 forward to meet him, and the battle was so fierce that 
I Sickles was compelled to send for help. A formid- 

I able force came and drove the Southern division be- 
fore it, but the vigilant Jackson, informed by his 
scouts of what was happening behind him, turned his 
■j rear guard to meet the attack, and Sickles was driven 
off a second time with great loss. Then Jackson’s 
men quickly rejoined him and they continued their 
march, the vanguard, in fact, never having stopped. 
Harry took no part in this, but from a distance he 
; saw much of it. Once more he admired the surpass- 
i! ing alertness and vigor of Jackson, who never seemed 
I to make a mistake, a man who was able while on a 
j great march to detach men for the help of his chief, 
I while never ceasing to pursue his main object. 

I The Northern forces, although they had fought 
i bravely, retreated, and the great movement that was 
I going on remained hidden from them. The gap be- 
I tween Lee and Jackson was growing wider, but they 
' did not know it was there. Hooker’s retreat with his 
great army into the Wilderness had given his enemies 
a chance to befog and bewilder him. 

Harry’s supreme confidence returned. All things 
seemed possible to his chief, and once more they were 
marching, unimpeded. It was now much past noon, 
and they turned into a new road, leading north through 
the thickets. 

‘Tt scarcely seems possible that we can pass around 


223 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


a great army in this way/’ said Dalton; “but, Harry, 
I’m beginning to believe the general will do it.” 

“Of course he will,” said Harry. “It’s Old Jack’s 
chief pleasure to do impossible things. He leaves the 
possible to ordinary men. See him. He didn’t even : 
stop to look back while our rear guard returned to 
help drive off the Yankees.” 

The sun was near the zenith and the afternoon 
grew warm. They had come upon hard, dry paths,, 
and under the tread of the army great clouds of dust 
arose, but it did not float high in the air, the thick 
boughs of the trees and bushes catching it. But as 
it hovered so close to the ground it made the breath- 
ing of the soldiers difiicult and painful. It rasped 
their throats, and soon they began to burn with the 
heat. Many fell exhausted beside the paths, but they | 
were helped by their comrades or were put into the 
wagons, and the long column of steel never ceased to 
wind onward. 

Near the middle of the afternoon, when they wxre 
about to cross the western extension of the plank 
road, a young cavalry officer galloped up and rode 
straight for Jackson. It was Fitzhugh Lee, whose 
services were great at Chancellorsville. His glowing j 
face showed that he brought news of great im- i 
portance. 

As he saluted, General Jackson checked his horse ^ 
and Harry heard his general ask: 

“You bring news. What is it?” 

“I do, sir,” responded young Lee eagerly. “I have 
something to show you. A great Northern force is 


224 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


( only a short distance away, and it does not suspect 
( your advance at all. If you will come with me to 
> the crest of a little hill here, I can show them to you.” 

Jackson never hesitated a moment, signing to Harry 
I to follow him, evidently meaning to use him as a 
I courier, if need arose. The three then turned and 
' rode through the bushes toward the hill, and Harry’s 
' heart beat so hard that it gave him an actual physical 
! pain when he looked down on the sight below. He 

I glanced at Jackson and saw that his face was flushed 
and his eyes glowing. 

They were gazing upon a great Northern force 
I which was to protect Hooker’s right. Its first lines 
' were only three or four hundred yards away. There 
were breastworks and other lines of defense running 
far through the forest, positions that were formidable, 
but not manned at this moment by riflemen or can- 
: noneers. Rifles were stacked neatly behind the in- 
trenchments, extending in a long line as far as they 
could see. Thousands of soldiers were sitting on the 
grass and among the bushes, some asleep, some play- 
ing games, while others were cooking, reading news- 
papers sent from the North, and some were singing. 
It was a picture of idleness and ease in a camp, and 
not one among them suspected that thirty thousand 
veterans of the South, led by Stonewall Jackson him- 
self, were within rifle shot, hidden under the vast 
canopy of the Wilderness. 

Harry drew a deep breath, and then another. It 
was extraordinary, unbelievable, but it was true. He 
looked again at Jackson and saw that his eyes were 


225 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 

still burning with blue fire. The general gazed for 
five minutes, but never said a word. Then he turned 
and rode down the hill, and swiftly the word was 
passed through the army that they would soon be 
upon the enemy. 

“What is it, Harry?’' asked St. Clair eagerly, as 
Harry rode along the lines with a message for a 
general for whom he was looking. 

“They’re just over there,” replied Harry, nodding 
toward his right. 

“And they don’t know we’re here?” 

“They don’t dream it.” 

“And Lee and Jackson have got ’em in the trap 
again ?” 

“It looks like it.” 

Then Harry was gone with his message. And he 
bore other messages, and like most of those he had 
borne earlier, their burden was secrecy and silence. 
He never forgot any detail of that memorable day. 
Years afterwards he could shut his eyes at any time 
and see the eve of Chancellorsville in all its vivid 
colors, thirty thousand Southern troops lying hidden 
in the thickets. General Jackson, followed by himself 
and two other aides, riding upon the hill again and 
taking one more look at the unsuspecting enemy be- 
low, the spreading out of the cavalry like a curtain 
between them and Howard’s corps to keep even a 
single stray Northern picket or scout from seeing the 
mortal danger at hand, and then Jackson dismounting 
and, seated on a stump, writing to Lee that he was 
on the enemy’s flank and would attack as soon as 


226 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


possible. Harry was in fear lest the general should 
choose him to carry back the dispatch, as he wished 
to stay with the corps and see what happened, but the 
duty was assigned to another man. 

: Confidence meanwhile reigned in the Union army. 

. In the morning Hooker had ridden around his whole 

I line, and cheers received him as he came. Scouts had 
brought him word that Jackson was moving, and he 
had taken note of the encounter with the rearguard 
i of Stonewall’s force. But as that force continued its 
march into the deep forest and disappeared from 
sight, the brave and sanguine Hooker was confirmed 
in his opinion that the whole Southern ^rmy was 
retreating. His belief was so firm that he sent a dis- 
; patch to Sedgwick, commanding the detached force 
near Fredericksburg, to pursue vigorously, as the 
enemy was fleeing in an effort to save his train. 

While Hooker was writing this dispatch the “flee- 
ing enemy,” led by the greatest of Lee’s lieutenants, 
lay in full force on his flank, almost within rifle-shot, 
preparing with calmness and in detail for one of the 
greatest blows ever dealt in war. Truly no soldiers 
ever deserved higher praise than those of the Army of 
the Potomac, who, often misled and mismanaged by 
second-rate men, grew better and better after every 
defeat, and never failed to go into battle zealous and 
full of courage. 

It seemed almost incredible to Harry, who had 
twice looked down upon them, that the whole Union 
right should remain ignorant of Jackson’s presence. 
Twenty-eight regiments and six batteries strong, the 


227 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Northern troops were now getting ready to cook their 
suppers, and there was much laughter and talk as 
they looked around at the forest and wondered when 
they would be sent in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. 
Six of the regiments were composed of men born in 
Germany, or the sons of Germans, drawn from the 
great cities of the North, little used to the forests and 
thickets and having the stiffness of Germans on 
parade. They were at the first point of exposure, and 
they were certainly no match for the formidable foe 
who was creeping nearer and nearer. 

Not all the country here was in forest. There were 
some fields, a little wooden cottage on a hill, and in 
the fields a small house of worship called the Wilder- 
ness Church. It was the little church of Shiloh and 
the Dunkard church of Antietam over again. 

Harry and Dalton in the front of the lines often saw 
the gleam of Northern guns and Northern bayonets 
through the foliage, but there was still no sign that 
anyone in the Northern right flank dreamed of their 
presence. Evidently the unconscious thousands there 
thought that all chance of battle had passed until the 
morrow. The sun was already going down the west- 
ern heavens, and behind them in the Wilderness the 
first shadows were gathering. 

Jackson’s troops were filled with confidence and 
exultation. As they formed for battle among the 
trees and bushes they too talked, and with the free- 
dom of republican troops, who fight all the better for 
it, they chaffed the young officers, especially the aides, 
as they passed. Harry received the full benefit of it. 


228 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


'‘Sit up straight in the saddle, sonny. Don’t dodge 
the bullets!” 

"You haven’t told the Yanks that we’re cornin’.” 

"Will me that boss if you get shot. I always did 
like a bay boss.” 

"Tell old Hooker that we jest had to arrange a 
surprise party for him.” 

"Tell ’em to make way there in front. We want 
to git into the fuss before it’s all over.” 

"Tell Old Jack I’m here and that he can begin the 
battle.” 

Harry smiled, and sometimes chaffed back. They 
were boys together. Most of the troops in either 
army were very young. He recognized that all this 
talk was the product of exuberant spirits, and officers 
much older than he, chaffed in a like manner, took it 
in the same way. 

But as they drew nearer, orders that all noise should 
cease were given, and officers were ready to enforce 
them. But there was little need for sternness. The 
soldiers themselves understood and obeyed. They were 
as eager as the officers to achieve a splendid triumph, 
and it remains a phenomenon of history how a great 
army came creeping, creeping within rifle shot of an- 
other, and its presence yet remained unknown. 

The Southern lines now stretched for a long dis- 
tance through the forest, cutting across a turnpike, 
down which the muzzles of four heavy guns pointed. 
The cavalry, not far away, were holding back their 
magnificent horses. Harry saw Sherburne on their 
flank nearest to him, and a smile of triumph passed 


229 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


between them. Off in the forest the strong division 
of A. P. Hill was advancing, the sound of their com- 
ing audible to the South but not to the North. 

For an hour and a half the formation of the South- 
ern army went on. Despite the danger of discovery, 
present every moment, Jackson was resolved to per- 
fect his preparations for the attack. He was calm, 
methodical, and showed no emotion now, however 
much he may have felt it. Harry rode back and 
forth, sometimes with him and sometimes alone, car- 
rying messages. He expected every instant to hear 
the crack of some Northern scout’s rifle and his shout 
of alarm, but the incredible not only happened — it 
kept on happening. There was not a single Northern 
skirmisher in the bushes. The only sounds that came 
from their camp to the Southern scouts were the 
clatter of dishes and the laughter of youths who knew 
that no danger was near. 

The sun was far down the western arch, and it 
seemed to Harry for a moment or two that no battle 
might occur that day, but a glance at Jackson and his 
incessant activity showed him he was mistaken. The 
arrangements were now almost complete. In front 
were the skirmishers, then the first line, and a little 
behind it the second line, and then Hill with the third 
line. Although they stood in thick forest, the lines 
were even and regular, despite trees and bushes. 

The Invincibles were in the second line. Owing to 
the density of the forest, the two colonels and their 
young staff officers had dismounted. Flarry passed 
them, and Colonel Talbot said to him: 


230 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


you know when we’ll advance, Harry?” 
can’t be much longer. What time is it, 
Colonel ?” 

Colonel Talbot opened his watch, looked carefully 
at the face, and as he closed it again and put it back 
in his pocket, he replied gravely: 

“It’s five forty-five o’clock of a memorable after- 
noon, Harry.” 

“It’s true, Leonidas,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Hec- 
tor St. Hilaire, “and whatever happens to us, it will 
be a pleasure to us both to know, even beyond the 
grave, that we have served long under the Christian 
soldier and great genius. Stonewall Jackson.” 

‘Wou’ll both go through it,” said Harry. “I know 
you’ll be with us when our victorious army goes over 
the Long Bridge and enters Washington.” 

St. Clair and Langdon stood near, but said noth- 
ing. Harry saw that they were enveloped by the 
mystery, the vastness and the terrible grandeur of the 
occasion. So he said nothing to them, but rode back 
toward his commander. Then he glanced again at 
the sun and saw that it was low, filling all the western 
heavens with bars of red and yellow and gold. He 
looked once again at that formidable line of battle, 
stretching in either direction through the forest far- 
ther than he could see, the soldiers eager, excited and 
straining hard at the hand that held them there so 
firmly. It seemed now that nothing was left to be 
done, and the time had grown to six o’clock in the 
evening. 

Jackson turned to Rodes, who commanded the first 


231 


THE STAR OR GETTYSBURG 


line of battle, just in the rear of the skirmishers, and 
said: 

*'Are you ready, General?’^ 

‘'Aye, aye, sir.” 

“Then charge,” said Jackson. 

Rodes nodded toward the leader of the skirmishers, 
who gave the word. A powerful man put a glittering 
brazen bugle to his throat and blew a long, mellow 
note that was heard far through the forest. It was 
followed by a shout poured from thirty thousand 
throats, the guns in the turnpike fired a terrible vol- 
ley straight into the Union camp, and then the whole 
army of Jackson, line upon line, rushed from the 
thickets and hurled itself upon its foe. 

The Northern army was paralyzed for a moment. 
Never was surprise more sudden and terrific. Brave 
as anybody, the Union men rushed to their arms, but 
there was no time to use them. The flood was upon 
them and overwhelmed them. The German regiments 
were cut to pieces in an instant, and the demoralized 
survivors retreated into the mass. Elsewhere a bat- 
tery was manned and stopped for a moment the 
Southern advance, but only for a moment. It, too, 
was overwhelmed by the Southern artillery which 
rushed forward, firing as fast as the cannoneers could 
load and reload. 

Jackson himself was with his artillery, shouting to 
them and encouraging them, and Harry, trying to 
follow him, found it hard to keep clear of the guns. 
The second and third lines of the Southern army 
pressed forward with the first, and the terrific impact 


232 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


overwhelmed everything. The Northern officers 
showed supreme courage in their attempt to stem the 
rout. Everyone on horseback was either killed or 
wounded, and their bravery and self-sacrifice were in 
vain. Nothing could stem the relentless tide that 
poured upon them. Harry had never before seen the 
Southern troops so exultant. Jackson’s march of a 
whole day, unseen, almost by the side of the enemy, 
and then his sudden attack upon his right flank, made 
their battle rush fierce and irresistible. They might 
be stayed for a few moments, but they swept on and 
on, carrying before them the blue brigades. 

The scene, while extraordinarily vivid to Harry, 
was nevertheless wild and confused. The fire of the 
cannon and rifles on a long line was so rapid and ter- 
rific that he was almost blinded by the incessant blaze, 
which was like one solid sheet of flame. The dense 
smoke gathered once more among the bushes and 
trees and the forest was filling with a tremendous 
shouting. 

Harry kept as close as he could to his general, who 
was now in the very heart of the conflict. But it was 
a difficult task. His clothing was torn by bushes and 
briars, and boughs whipped him across the face. 
Now and then in a rift in the smoke he beheld a ter- 
rible sight. The ground was covered with the arms 
and blankets and tents of the Union army. Ahead 
of them were great masses of men, retreating and 
jammed among the wagons. The horses, many of 
them wounded, were running about, neighing in pain 
and terror. Officers, their uniforms often red from 


233 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


• wounds, were rushing everywhere, seeking to stay the 
panic. 

Yet the Union officers at last succeeded in getting 
some order out of the chaos. A battery was rallied 
on a hill and threw a sleet of steel on the charging 
men in gray. Some of the seasoned infantry regi- 
ments were managing to form a line and they were 
beginning to send back a rifle fire. Harry felt that 
the resistance in front of them was hardening a little. 

But as usual the eye of Jackson saw everything, 
even through the flame and smoke and confusion of a 
battle fought in dense forests and thickets. 

He galloped up the turnpike l;iimself, his staff hot 
at his heels, and shouting to the gunners and pointing 
forward, he urged on the artillery. Then he rode 
among the infantry, and they, as eager as he, rushed 
on at increased speed. Yet the Northern resistance 
was still hardening. Some of the German regiments 
atoned for their earlier panic by reforming and mak- 
ing a brave resistance. Other regiments formed be- 
hind a breastwork. 

'‘They are going to make a bold stand,” shouted 
Harry to Dalton. 

“But it will not help them,” the Virginian replied. 

The Southern battle front, which for a few minutes 
had lost cohesion, now swelled higher than ever. Led 
by Jackson in person, nearly all the officers in front 
sword in hand, the whole division with a mighty 
shout charged. Harry saw the Invincibles in the first 
line, the two colonels, one on either flank, waving 
their swords and their faces young again with the 


234 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


battle fire. But it was only a glimpse. Then they 
were lost from his sight in the fire and smoke. 

There could be no sufficient defense against the 
charge of such a foe, numerous, prepared and wild 
with victory. They swept over the breastwork, they 
seized the cannon, they took prisoners, and before 
them they swept the right wing of the Union army 
in irreparable rout and confusion. Harry had not 
seen its like in the whole war, nor was he destined to 
see it again. An entire corps had been annihilated. 
The Wilderness was filled with the fragments of regi- 
ments seeking to join the main force with Hooker at 
I Chancellorsville. 

Harry thought Jackson would stop. They were 
now in the deep woods. The sun was almost gone. 
The shadows from the east had crept over the whole 
sky, and it was already dark among the dense thickets 
of the Wilderness. An hour had passed since the 
first rush, and few generals would have had the dar- 
ing to push on in the forest, dark already and rapidly 
growing darker. But Jackson was one of the few. 
He continued to urge on his men, and he sent his 
staff officers galloping back and forth to help in the 
task. There was a road in the very rear of Hooker. 
He intended to seize it, and he was resolved before 
the night closed down utterly to plant himself so 
firmly against the very center of the Union army that 
Hooker’s complete defeat in the morning would be 
sure. 

The bugles sang the charge again all along the 
Southern line, and in the dying twilight, lit by the 


235 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


flame of cannon and rifles, they swept forward, driv- 
ing all resistance before them. 

It was one of the most appalling moments in the 
history of a nation which has had to win its way with 
immense toil and through many dangers. Hooker, 
brave, not lacking in ability, but far from being a 
match for the extraordinary combination that faced 
him, two men of genius working in perfect harmony, 
had been sitting with two of his staff officers on the 
portico of the Chancellor House. He was serene, and 
confident. He knew the courage of his soldiers and 
their numbers. The cannonade in his front had died ^ 
down. He was a full-faced man, ruddy and stalwart, 
and with his powerful army of veterans he felt equal ^ 
to anything. There was nothing to indicate that the 
Southern army was not in full retreat, as he had stated 
in his dispatch earlier in the day. The thought of 
Jackson had passed out of his mind for the time, be- 
* cause his long columns, he was sure, were marching ■; 
farther and farther away. 

Hooker, as the cool of the later afternoon, so pleas- 
ant after the heat of the day, came on, felt an increase 
of satisfaction. All his great forces would be massed , 
in the morning. Now and then he heard in the east ^ 
the far sound of cannon like muttering thunder on 
the horizon, but after a while it ceased entirely. He 
heard that distant thunder in the south, too, but it 
passed farther and farther away, and he felt sure that 1 
it came from his valiant guns hanging on the rear 
guard of the retreating Jackson. 

One wonders what must be the feelings of a man < 

236 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


who, sitting in apparent security, is suddenly plunged 
into a terrible pit. Commanders less able than Hooker 
have had better luck. What had he to fear? With 
one hundred and thirty thousand veterans of the Army 
of the Potomac within call, almost any other general 
in his place would have felt a like security. But he 
had not fathomed fully the daring and skill of the 
two men who confronted him. 

It is related that on the approach of that memorable 
evening there was a remarkable peace and quiet at 
the Chancellor House itself. Hooker was conversing 
quietly with his aides. Officers inside the house were 
copying orders. The distant mutter of the guns that 
came now and then was harmonious and rather sooth- 
ing. The east was already darkening and it seemed 
that a quiet sun would set over the Wilderness. 

The cannonade in the south seemed to pass into a 
new direction, but the officers at the Chancellor House 
did not give it much attention. Hooker was still quiet 
and confident. Suddenly a terrific crash of cannon 
fire came from a point in the northwest. It was fol- 
lowed by another and then others, so swiftly that they 
merged. It never ceased for an instant and it rapidly 
rolled nearer. Hooker and his officers leaped to their 
feet and gazed appalled at the forest whence came 
those ominous sounds. An officer ran upon the plank 
road and took a look through his glasses. 

‘‘Good God!” he cried, as he turned quickly back. 
“Here they come!” 

Down the road was pouring a mass of fugitives, 
and they brought with them news that did not suffer 


237 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


in the telling, either in magnitude or color. Stonewall 
Jackson and the bulk of the rebel army had suddenly 
fallen on their wing, they said, and he and his men 
were hard upon their heels. Hooker passed in a mo- 
ment from the certainty of victory to the certainty 
that his army must fight for its very existence. Yet 
he and his generals showed presence of mind and great 
courage in the crisis, bringing forward troops rapidly 
and, above all, massing the superb artillery. 

Harry Kenton, his horse shot under him, again was 
in the front line of the Southern troops that followed 
the mass of fugitives down the road toward the Chan- 
cellor House. In the mad rush he lost sight of Jack- 
son for the time, and found himself mingled with the 
Invincibles. Both the colonels were bleeding from 
slight wounds, but with fire equal to that of any youth 
they were still at the head of their troops, leading 
them straight toward the Union center. 

Harry only had time to glance at his friends and 
receive their glances in return, and then he found 
Jackson again. Catching one of the riderless horses, 
so numerous, he sprang upon him and rode close be- 
hind his general, where Dalton, a slight bullet wound 
in the arm, had been able to remain through all the con- 
fusion. 

Now the Southern troops were crashing through 
the woods and bearing down upon the Chancellor 
House. The blaze of the cannon and rifles lit up the 
early night, and the crash and tumult around the 
place became indescribable. Many a Northern officer 
thought that all was lost, but the trained artillerymen 

238 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


of the North never flinched. Occupying an eminence, 
battery after battery was wheeled into line, until fifty 
cannon manned by the best gunners in the world were 
pouring an awful fire upon the Southern front. Jack- 
son’s men were compelled to stop, and elsewhere the 
Southern line was halted also by the density of the 
thickets. 

Yet it was but a lull. It was far into the night. 
Nevertheless, Jackson meant to push the battle. He 
rode among his troops and encouraged them for an- 
other effort. Everywhere he was received with tre- 
mendous cheers, and the men were willing and eager 
to push on the attack. Lee, his chief, meanwhile was 
closing in with the smaller force. The whole line was 
reformed. Jackson cried to Hill and Lane and other 
generals to push on. The whole army was in line for 
a fresh attack, and they could hear the sounds made 
by the enemy cutting down timber and fortifying. 

It was now nearly nine o’clock at night, and save 
for the fires that burned here and there and the flash 
of the picket firing, the night that hung over the Wil- 
derness was dark and heavy. 

Harry passed once more near the Invincibles, who 
were lying down, panting with weariness, but exul- 
tant. They had lost a third of their numbers in the 
attack, but the wounds of his own friends were not 
serious. 

“Do you know whether we charge them again, 
Harry?” asked Colonel Talbot. 

“I don’t know, sir; but you know General Jackson.” 

“Then it probably means that we attack. Keep 


239 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


down, Captain Bertrand! Those Northern pickets in 
the bushes in front of us are active, and, upon my 
word, they know how to shoot, as the honorable 
wounds of many of us attest 1” 

Bertrand, eager to see the enemy, was standing on 
a hillock, and he did not seem to hear the words of 
his chief. A rifle cracked in the bushes and he fell 
back without a word. The arms of St. Clair received 
him and eased him gently to the earth. But Harry 
saw at a glance that the man and his fevered ambi- 
tions were gone forever. He was dead before he 
touched the ground. 

'Tm glad that I was the one to catch his body,” 
said St. Clair simply. 

Harry was moved at the fall of this man, although 
he had never really liked him, but he went on and 
rejoined his general. Colonel Talbot was right. 
Jackson was still intent upon pressing the attack. 
Night and darkness were now nothing to him. He 
meant to achieve Hooker’s ruin. 

Harry always believed afterward that he felt thei 
shadow of the great tragedy soon to come. The roar' 
of the cannon had died down, but from every direc- 
tion came the firing of scattered riflemen, skirmishers 
and pickets. They buzzed like angry bees, and no man 
on the front of either army was safe from their sting. 
But all through the Wilderness along the line of Jack- 
son’s charge the dead and wounded lay. Here and 
there clumps of fallen and dead wood of the winter 
before, set on fire by the shells, were burning slowly. 
The smoke from so much firing drifted in vast banks 


240 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


of vapor through the forest. The air was filled with 
ibitter odors. 

Harry felt a sensation of awe and terror, not ter- 
ror inspired by man, but of the unknown or uncon- 
I trolled forces that drive men to meet one another in 
! such deadly combat. Now night did not suffice to 
- stop the titanic struggle. He saw all around him the 
regiments ready for a new attack, and he plainly heard 
in front of him the thud of axes as the Northern men 
I cut down trees for their defense. Now and then stray 
( moonbeams, penetrating the forest and the smoke, fell 
over them like discs of burnished silver, but faded 
quickly. 

The firing of the skirmishers increased. Twigs and 
leaves cut off by the bullets fell in little showers to 
the earth. Harry, on horseback now, saw an impa- 
tient look pass over the general’s face. The intrepid 
fighter, A. P. Hill, was coming up fast, but not fast 
enough for Stonewall Jackson. He turned and rode 
back toward him, careless of the danger from the 
Northern skirmishers, who might at any moment 
see him. 

“General,” said one of his staff in protest, “don’t 
expose yourself so much.” 

“There is no danger,” said the general quickly. 
“The enemy is routed and we must push him hard. 
Hurry to General Hill and tell him to press forward.” 

The little group of men, Jackson and his staff, rode 
on. It was very dark where they were, in the shade 
of the stunted forest. No moonlight reached them 
there. Jackson paused, listening to the rising fire of 


241 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


the skirmishers. A rifle suddenly flashed in the thick- 
ets before them. Northern troops, lost in the bush 
and the darkness, were coming directly their way. 

Jackson turned and, followed by his staff, rode 
toward his own lines. The men of a North Carolina 
regiment, dimly seeing a group of horsemen coming 
down upon them, thought they were about to be at- 
tacked, and an officer gave an order to fire. He was 
obeyed at once, and the most costly volley fired by 
Southern troops in the whole war sent the deadly buh 
lets whistling into Jackson’s group. 

Officers and horses fell, shot down by their own 
men. Jackson was struck in the right hand and re- 
ceived two bullets in his left arm. One cut an artery 
and another shattered the bone near the shoulder. 
The reins dropped from his hands, and his horse, the 
famous Little Sorrel, broke violently away, rushing 
through the woods toward the Northern lines. A 
bough struck Jackson in the face and he reeled in the 
saddle. But with a violent effort he righted himself, 
seized the bridle in his stricken right hand, and turned 
back his frightened horse. 

Harry had sat still in his saddle, petrified with 
horror. Then he urged forward his horse and tried 
to reach his general, but another aide. Captain Wil- 
bourn, was before him. Wilbourn seized the reins of 
Little Sorrel and then Harry felt the thrill of horror 
again as he saw Jackson reel forward and fall. But 
he was caught in the arms of the faithful Wilbourn. 

They laid Jackson on the ground, and a courier was 
sent in haste for his personal physician. Dr. McGuire. 


242 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


Harry sprang down, and abandoning his horse, which 
he never saw again, knelt beside his general. Wil- 
bourn with a penknife was cutting the sleeve from the 
shattered arm. 

The whole battle passed away for Harry. Death 
was in his heart at that moment. When he looked at 
the white, drawn face of Jackson and his shattered 
arm, he had no hope then, nor did he ever have any 
afterwards, save for a few moments. The paladin 
of the Confederacy was gone, shot down in the dark 
by his own men. 

General Hill, who also had been in great danger 
from the bullets of the North Carolinians, galloped 
up, sprang from his horse and helped to bind up the 
shattered arm. 

; "'Are you much hurt, General?” he asked, his face 
: distorted with grief and alarm. 

"I fear so,” was the reply, in a weak voice, "and 
I have suffered all my wounds from my own men. 
I think my right arm is broken.” 

Harry remained motionless. He saw Dalton by his 
side, and he also saw tears on his face. Jackson closed 
his eyes and uttered no word of complaint, although 
it was obvious that he was suffering terribly. Gen- 
; eral Hill felt his pulse. He was rapidly growing 
weaker. Harry was so stunned that he would not 
have known what to do, even had not senior officers 
been present. When his pulse began to beat again 
he remained silent, waiting upon his superiors. 

But Harry was now alert and watchful again. He 
heard the heavy firing of the skirmishers on the right. 


243 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


on the left, and in front, and through the darkness he 
saw the flashes of flame. The little group around the 
fallen man was detached from the army and the 
enemy might come upon them at any moment. Even 
as he looked, two Union skirmishers came through 
the thicket and, pausing, their rifles in the hollows of 
their arms, looked intently at the shadowy figures be- 
fore them, trying to discern who and what they were. 
It was General Hill who acted promptly. Turning to 
Harry and Dalton, he said in a low tone : 

‘‘Take charge of those men.’^ 

The two young lieutenants, with levelled pistols, 
instantly sprang forward and seized the soldiers be- 
fore they had time to resist. They were given to 
orderlies and sent to the rear. Harry and Dalton re- 
turned to the side of their fallen general. While all 
stood there trying to decide v/hat to do, an aide 
who had gone down the road reported that a bat- 
tery of Northern artillery was unlimbering just before 
them. 

“Then we must take the General away at once,’' 
said Hill. 

Hill lifted in his arms the great leader who was 
now almost too weak to speak, although he opened 
his eyes once, and, as ever, thoughtful of his troops 
and the cause for which he fought, said. 

“Tell them it’s only a wounded Confederate soldier 
whom you are carrying.” 

Then he closed his eyes again and lay heavy and 
inert in Hill’s arms. Hill held him on his feet, and 
the young staff officers, now crowding around, snp- 


244 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


ported him. Thus aided he walked among the trees 
until they came to the road. It was as dark as ever, 
save for the flash of the firing which went on continu- 
ously to right, to left, and in front, mingled now with 
the sinister rumble of cannon. 

Harry, helping to support Jackson and overwhelmed 
with grief, felt as if the end of the world had come. 
The darkness, the flash of the rifles, the mutter of 
cannon, the blaze of gunpowder, the fierce shouts that 
rose now and then in the thickets, the foul odors, made 
him think that they had truly reached the infernal 
regions. 

The lieutenant, who saw the battery unlimbering, 
had not been deceived by his imagination. Just as 
they entered the road it fired a terrible volley of grape 
and shrapnel. Luckily in the darkness it fired high, 
and the little Southern group heard the deadly sleet 
crashing in the bushes and boughs over their heads. 

The devoted young staff officers instantly laid Jack- 
son down in the road, and, sheltering him with their 
own bodies as they lay beside him, remained perfectly 
still while the awful rain of steel swept over their 
heads again. Whether Jackson was conscious of it 
Harry never knew. 

It was one of the most terrible moments of Harry's 
life. He felt the most overwhelming grief, but every 
nerve, nevertheless, was sensitive to the last degree. 
His first conviction that Jackson’s wounds were mor- 
tal was in abeyance for the moment. He might yet 
recover and lead his dauntless legions as of old to 
victory, and he, like the other young officers who lay 


245 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


around him, was resolved to save him with his own 
life if he could. 

The deadly rain from the cannon did not cease. It 
swept over their heads again and again, all the more 
fearful because of the darkness. Harry felt the twigs 
and leaves, cut from the bushes, falling on his face. 
The whining of the grape and shrapnel and canister 
united in one ferocious note. Some of it struck in 
the roadway beyond them and fire flew from the 
stones. 

The general revived a little after a while and tried 
to get up, but one of the young officers threw his arms 
around him and, holding him down, said: 

“Be still. General! You must! It will cost you 
your life to rise!’' 

The general made no further attempt to rise, and 
perhaps he lapsed into a stupor for a little space. 
Harry could not tell how long that dreadful shrieking 
and whining over their heads continued. It was five 
minutes perhaps, but to him it seemed interminable. 
Presently the missiles gave forth a new note. 

“They’re using shells now,” said Dalton, “because 
they’re seeking a longer range, and they’re going much 
higher over our heads than the canister.” 

“And here are men approaching,” said Harry. “I 
can make out their figures. They must be our own.” 

“So they are!” said Dalton, as they came nearer. 

It was a heavy mass of Confederate infantry press- 
ing forward in the darkness, and the young officers 
who had been so ready to give their lives for their 
hero lifted him to his feet. Not wishing to have the 

246 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


ardor of his men quenched by the sight of his wounds, 
Jackson bade them take him aside into the thick bushes. 
But Pender, the general who was leading these troops, 
saw him and recognized him, despite the heavy veil 
of darkness and smoke. 

Pender rushed to Jackson, betraying the greatest 
grief, and said that he was afraid he must fall back 
before the tremendous artillery fire of the enemy. As 
he spoke, that fire increased. Shells and round shot, 
grape and canister and shrapnel shrieked through the 
air, and the bullets, too, were coming in thousands, 
whistling like hail driven by a hurricane. Men fell 
all about them in the darkness. 

But the great soul of Jackson, wounded to death 
and unable to stand, was unshaken. Harry saw him 
suddenly straighten up, draw himself away from those 
who were supporting him, and say: 

‘‘You must hold your ground. General Pender! 
You must hold out to the very last, sir!” 

Once more the eyes shot forth blue fire. Once 
more the unquenchable spirit had spoken. The figure 
reeled, and the young officers sprang to his support. 
He wanted to lie down there and rest, but the youths 
would not let him, because every form of missile 
hurled from a cannon's mouth was crashing among 
them. A litter arrived now and they carried him 
toward a house that had been used as a tavern. A 
shot struck one of the men who held the litter in his 
arm and he was compelled to let go. The litter tipped 
over and Jackson fell heavily to the ground, his whole 
weight crashing upon his wounded arm. Harry heard 


247 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


him utter then his first and only groan. The boy him- 
self cried out in horror. 

But they lifted him up again, and the litter bearers 
carried him on, the young officers crowded close around 
him. Although it was far on toward midnight, the 
roar of the battle swelled afresh through the Wilder- 
ness. They came presently to an ambulance, by the 
side of which Jackson’s physician. Dr. McGuire, stood. 
The surgeon, tears in his eyes, bent over the general 
and asked him if he were badly hurt. Jackson replied 
that he thought he was dying. 

An officer of high rank. Colonel Crutchfield, whom 
Jackson esteemed highly, was already lying in the am- 
bulance, wounded severely. They put Jackson beside 
him and drove slowly toward the rear. Once, when 
Crutchfield groaned under the jolting of the ambu- 
lance, Jackson made them stop until his comrade was 
easier. Then the mournful procession moved on, 
while the battle roared and crashed about the lone 
ambulance that bore the stricken idol of the Confed- 
eracy, Lee’s right arm, the man without whom the 
South could not win. Harry heard long afterward 
that a minister in New Orleans used in his prayer 
some such words as these, ‘^Oh, Lord, when Thou in 
Thy infinite wisdom didst decree that the Southern 
Confederacy should fail. Thou hadst first to take away 
Thy servant. Stonewall Jackson.” 

Harry and Dalton might have followed the ambu- 
lance that carried Jackson away, as they were mem- 
bers of his staff, but they felt that their place was on 
this dusky battlefield. While they paused, not know- 

248 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


ing what to do, a body of men came through the 
brushwood and they recognized the upright and mar- 
tial figures of Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. Just behind them were 
St. Clair, Langdon and the rest of the Invincibles. 
The two colonels turned and gazed at the retreating 
ambulance, a shadow for a moment in the dusk, and 
then a shadow gone. 

‘T saw them putting an officer in that ambulance, 
Harry,” said Colonel Talbot. “Who was it?” 

Harry choked and made no answer. 

Colonel Talbot, surprised, turned to Dalton. 

“Who was it?” he repeated. 

Dalton turned his face away, and was silent. 

At sight of this emotion, a sudden, terrible suspicion 
was born in the mind of Colonel Leonidas Talbot. It 
was like a dagger thrust. 

“You don’t mean — it can’t be — ” he exclaimed, in 
broken words. 

Harry could control his feelings no longer. 

“Yes, Colonel,” he burst forth. “It was he. Stone- 
wall Jackson, shot down in the darkness and by mis- 
take by our own men !” 

“Was he hurt badly?” 

“One arm was shattered completely, and he was 
shot through the hand of the other.” 

The moonlight shone on Harry’s face just then, 
and the colonel, as he looked at him, drew in his 
breath with a deep gasp. 

“So bad as that!” he muttered. “I did not think 
our champion could fall.” 


249 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, Langdon 
and St. Clair, who had heard him, also turned pale, 
but were silent. 

‘‘We must not tell it,’' said Harry. “General Jack- 
son did not wish it to be known to the soldiers, and 
there is fighting yet to be done. Here comes General 
Hill!” 

Harry and Dalton flung themselves into the ranks 
of the Invincibles. Hill took command in Jackson’s 
place, but was soon badly wounded by a fragment of 
shell, and was taken away. Then Stuart, the great 
horseman, rode up and led the troops to meet the re- 
turn attack for which the Northern forces were mass- 
ing in their front. Harry saw Stuart as he came, 
eager as always for battle, his plumed hat shining in 
the light of the moon, which was now clear and at 
the full. 

“If Jackson can lead no longer, then Stuart can,” 
said Colonel Talbot, looking proudly at the gallant 
knight who feared no danger. “What time is it. 
Hector?” 

“Nearly midnight, Leonidas.” 

“And no time for fighting, but fighting will be done. 
Can’t you hear their masses gathering in the wood ?” 

“I do. Hector. The Yankees, despite their terrible 
surprise, have shown great spirit. It is not often that 
routed troops can turn and put on the defense those 
who have routed them.” 

“Yes, and they’ll be on us in a minute,” said Harry. 

It was much lighter now, owing to the clearness of 
the moon and the lifting of the smoke caused by a lull 


250 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


in the firing. But Harry was right in his prediction. 
Within five minutes the Northern artillery, sixty 
massed guns, opened with a frightful crash. Once 
more that storm of steel swept through the woods, 
but now the lack of daylight helped the Southerners. 
Many were killed and wounded, but most of the rain 
of death passed over their heads, as they were all 
lying on the ground awaiting the charge, and the 
Northern gunners, not able to choose any targets, fired 
in the general direction of the Southern force. 

The cannon fire went on for several minutes, and 
then, with a mighty shout, .the Northern force charged, 
but in a great confused struggle in the woods and 
darkness it was beaten back, and soon after midnight 
the battle for that day ceased. 

Yet there was no rest for the troops. Stuart, ap- 
preciating the numbers of his enemy and fearing 
another attack, moved his forces to the side to close 
up the gap between himself and Lee, in order that the 
Southern army should present a solid line for the new 
conflict that was sure to come in the morning. 

All that night the Wilderness gave forth the sound 
of preparations made by either side, and Harry neither 
slept nor had any thought of it. He knew well that 
the battle was far from over, and he knew also that 
the Union army had not yet been defeated. Hooker’s 
right wing had been crushed by the sudden and tre- 
mendous stroke of Jackson, but his center had rallied 
powerfully on Chancellorsville, and instead of a mere 
defense had been able to attack in the night battle. 
The fall of Jackson, too, had paralyzed for a time the 


251 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Southern advance, and Lee, with the slender forces 
under his immediate eye, had not been able to make 
any progress. 

Harry and Dalton finally left the Invincibles and 
reported to General Stuart, who instantly recognized 
Harry. 

‘‘Ah,’' he said, “you were on the staff of General 
Jackson!” 

“Yes, sir,” replied Harry, “and so was Lieutenant 
Dalton here. We report to you for duty.” 

“Then you’ll be on mine for to-night. After that 
General Lee will dispose of you, but I have much for 
you both to do before morning.” 

Stuart was acting with the greatest energy and fore- 
sight, manning his artillery and strengthening his 
whole line. But he knew that it was necessary to 
inform his commander-in-chief of all that was hap- 
pening, in order that Lee in the morning might have 
the two portions of the Southern army in perfect 
touch and under his complete command. He selected 
Wilbourn to reach him, and Harry was detailed to 
accompany that gallant officer. They were well fitted 
to tell all that had happened, as they had been in the 
thick of the battle and had been present at the fall of 
Jackson. 

The two officers, saying but little, rode side by side 
through the Wilderness. They were so much op- 
pressed with grief that they did not have the wish to 
talk. Both were devotedly attached to Jackson, and 
to both he was a hero, without fear and without re- 
proach. They heard behind them the occasional report 


252 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


of a rifle. But it was only a little picket firing. Most 
of the soldiers, worn out by such tremendous efforts, 
lay upon the ground in what was a stupor rather than 
sleep. 

As they rode forward they met pickets of their own 
men who told them where Lee and his staff were en- 
camped, and they rode on, still in silence, for some 
time. Harry’s cheeks were touched by a freshening 
breeze which had the feel of coming dawn, and he 
said at last: 

“The morning can’t be far away. Captain.” 

“No, the first light of sunrise will appear very soon. 
It seems to me I can see a faint touch of gray now 
over the eastern forest.” 

They were riding now through the force that had 
been left by General Lee. Soldiers lay all around them 
and in all positions, most to rise soon for the fresh 
battle, and some, as Harry could tell by their rigidity, 
never to rise at all. 

They asked again for Lee as they went on, and a 
sentinel directed them to a clump of pines. Wilbourn 
and Harry dismounted and walked toward a number 
of sleeping forms under the pines. The figures, like 
those of the soldiers, were relaxed and as still as 
death. The dawn which Harry has felt on his face 
did not appear to the eye. It was very dark under the 
boughs of the pines, and they did not know which of 
the still forms was Lee. 

Wilbourn asked one of the soldiers on guard for 
an officer, and Lee’s adjutant-general came forward. 
Wilbourn told him at once what had occurred, and 


253 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


while they talked briefly one of the figures under the 
pines arose. It was that of Lee, who, despite his still- 
ness, was sleeping lightly, and whom the first few 
words had awakened. He put aside an oilcloth which 
some one had put over him to keep off the morning 
dew, and called: 

“Who is there 

“Messengers, sir, from General Jackson,’’ replied 
Major Taylor, the Adjutant-General. 

General Lee pointed to the blankets on which he 
had been lying, and said: 

“Sit down here and tell me everything that occurred 
last evening.” 

Wilbourn sat down on the blankets. Harry stood 
back a little. The other staff officers, aroused by the 
talk, sat up, but waited in silence. Captain Wilbourn 
began the story of the night, and Lee did not inter- 
rupt him. But the first rays of the dawn were now 
stealing through the pines, and when Wilbourn came 
to the account of Jackson’s fall, Harry saw the great 
leader’s face pale a little. Lee, like Jackson, was a 
man who invariably had himself under complete com- 
mand, one who seldom showed emotion, but now, as 
Wilbourn finished, he exclaimed with deep emotion: 

“Ah, Captain Wilbourn, we’ve won a victory, but 
it is dearly bought, when it deprives us of the services 
of General Jackson, even for a short time!” 

Harry inferred from what he said that he did not 
think General Jackson’s wounds serious, and he wished 
that he could have the same hope and belief, but he 
could not. He had felt the truth from the first, that 


254 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


Jackson’s wounds were mortal. Then Lee was silent 
so long that Captain Wilbourn rose as if to go. 

Lee came out of his deep thought and bade Wil- 
bourn stay a little longer. Then he asked him many 
questions about the troops and their positions. He 
also gave him orders to carry to Stuart, and as Wil- 
bourn turned to go, he said with great energy: 

‘‘Those people must be pressed this morning!” 

Then Wilbourn and Harry rode away at the utmost 
speed, guiding their horses skilfully through lines of 
soldiers yet sleeping. The freshening touch of dawn 
grew stronger on Harry’s cheeks and he saw the band 
of gray in the east broadening. Presently they 
reached their own corps, and now they saw all the 
troops ready and eager. Harry rode at once with 
Wilbourn to Stuart and fell in behind that singular 
but able general. 

Harry saw that Stuart’s face was flushed with ex- 
citement. His eyes fairly blazed. It had fallen to 
him to lead the great fighting corps which had been 
led so long by Stonewall Jackson, and it was enough 
to appeal to the pride of any general. Nor had he 
shed any of the brilliant plumage that he loved so 
well. The great plume in his gold-corded hat lifted 
and fluttered in the wind as he galloped about. The 
broad sash of yellow silk still encircled his waist, and 
on his heels were large golden spurs. Harry, as he 
followed him, heard him singing to himself, “Old Joe 
Hooker, won’t you come out of the Wilderness?” 
That line seemed to have taken possession of Stuart’s 
mind. 


255 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


All the staff and many of the soldiers along the 
battle front noted the difference between their new 
commander and the one who had fallen so disastrously 
in the night. There was never anything spectacular 
about Jackson. In the soberest of uniforms, save once 
or twice, he would ride along the battle front on his 
little sorrel horse, making no gestures. 

It was not until the soldiers saw Stuart in the light 
that they knew of Jackson’s fall. Then the news 
spread among them with astonishing rapidity, and 
while they liked Stuart, their hearts were with the 
great leader who lay wounded behind them. But 
eagerness for revenge added to their warlike zeal. 
Along the reformed lines ran a tremendous swelling 
cry: ^‘Remember Jackson!” 

They wheeled a little further to the right in order 
to come into close contact with Lee, and then, as the 
first red touch of the dawn showed in the Wilderness, 
the trumpets sounded the charge. The batteries blazed 
as they sent forth crashing volleys, and in a minute 
the thunder of guns came from the east and south, 
where Lee also attacked as soon as he heard the sounds 
of his lieutenant’s charge. 

Nothing could withstand the terrible onset of the 
troops who were still shouting ‘‘Remember Jackson!” 
and who were led on by a plumed knight out of the 
Middle Ages, shaking a great sabre and now singing 
at the top of his voice his favorite line, “Old Joe 
Hooker, won’t you come out of the Wilderness?” 

They swept away the skirmishers and seized the 
plateau of Hazel Grove which had been of such use 

256 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


to Hooker the night before, and the Southern bat- 
teries, planted in strength upon it, rained death on the 
Northern ranks. The veterans with Lee rushed for- 
ward with equal courage and fire, and from every 
point of the great curve cannon and rifles thundered 
on the Union ranks. 

Harry and Dalton stayed as closely as they could 
with their new chief, who, reckless of the death which 
in truth he seemed to invite, was galloping in the very 
front ranks, still brandishing his great sabre, and now 
and then making it whirl in a coil of light about his 
head. He continually shouted encouragement to his 
men, who were already full of fiery zeal, but it was 
the spirit of Jackson that urged them most. It seemed 
to Harry, excited and worshipping his hero, that the 
figure of Jackson, misty and almost impalpable, still 
rode before him. 

But it was no mere triumphal march. They met 
stern and desperate resistance. It was American 
against American. Once more the superb Northern 
batteries met those of the South with a fire as terrible 
as their own. The Union gunners willingly exposed 
themselves to death to save their army, and from their 
breastworks sixty thousand riflemen sent vast sheets 
of bullets. 

But the Northern leader was gone. As Hooker 
lean^ed against a pillar in the portico of the Chancellor 
House a shell struck it over his head, the concussion 
being so violent that he w^as thrown to the floor, 
stunned and severely injured. He was carried away, 
unconscious, but the brave and able generals under 


257 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


him stilly sustained the battle, and had no thought of 
yieldingr 

The Southern army, Lee and Stuart in unison, never 
ceased to push the attack. The forces were now 
drawing closer together. The lines were shorter and 
deeper. The concentrated fire on both sides was ap- 
palling. Bushes and saplings fell in the Wilderness 
as if they had been levelled with mighty axes. 

Harry saw a vast bank of fire and smoke and then 
he saw shooting above it pyramids and spires of flame. 
The Chancellor House and all the buildings near it, 
set on fire by the flames, were burning fiercely, spring- 
ing up like torches to cast a lurid light over that scene 
of death and destruction. Then the woods, despite 
their spring sap and greenness, caught fire under the 
showers of exploding shells, and their flames spread 
along a broad front. 

The defense made by the Union army was long and 
desperate. - No men could have shown greater valor, 
but they had been surprised and from the first they 
had been outgeneralled. An important division of 
Hooker’s army had not been able to get into the main 
battle. The genius of Lee gathered all his men at the 
point of contact and the invisible figure of Jackson 
still rode at the head of his men. 

For five hours the battle raged, and at last the 
repeated charges of the Southern troops and the deadly 
fire of their artillery prevailed. 

The Northern army, its breastworks carried by 
storm, was driven out of Chancellorsville and, de- 
feated but not routed, began its slow and sullen retreat. 

258 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


Thirty thousand men killed or wounded attested the 
courage and endurance with which the two ?ides had 
fought. 

The Army of the Potomac, defeated but defiant 
and never crushed by defeat, continued its slow retreat 
to Fredericksburg, and for a little space the guns were 
silent in the Wilderness. 

The men of Hooker, although surprised and out- 
generaled, had shown great courage in battle, and 
after the defeat of Chancellorsville the retreat was 
conducted with much skill. Lee had been intending 
to push another attack, but, as usual after the great 
battles of the Civil War, Chancellorsville was followed 
by a terrific storm. It burst over the Wilderness in 
violence and fury. 

The thunder was so loud and the lightning so vivid 
that it seemed for a while as if another mighty combat 
were raging. Then the rain came in a deluge, and 
the hoofs of horses and the wheels of cannon sank so 
deep in the spongy soil of the Wilderness that it be- 
came practically impossible to move the army. 

After a night of storm, Harry and Dalton rode 
forward with Sherburne and his troop of cavalry, sent 
by Stuart to beat up the enemy and see what he was 
doing. They found that Hooker’s whole army had 
crossed the river in the night on his bridges. 

Twice the Northern army had been driven back 
across the Rappahannock at the same place — after 
Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville — but Harry felt 
no elation as he returned slowly through the mud 
with Sherburne. 


259 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


“If it were in my power/’ he said, “I’d gladly trade 
the victory of Chancellors ville, and more like it, to 
have our General back.” 

By “our General” he of course meant Jackson, and 
both Sherburne and Dalton nodded assent. The news 
had come to them that Jackson was not doing well. 
His shattered arm had been amputated near the shoul- 
der, and the report spread through the army that he 
was sinking. Just after the victory, Lee, with his 
wonted greatness of soul, had sent him a note that it 
was chiefly' due to him. Jackson, although in great 
pain, had sent back word that General Lee was very 
kind, “but he should give the praise to God.” 

The deep religious feeling was no affectation with 
him. It showed alike in victory and suffering. It 
was a part of the man’s being, bred into every fiber 
of his bone and flesh. 

As soon as the news of Hooker’s escape across the 
Rappahannock had been told, Harry and Dalton asked 
leave of Stuart to visit General Jackson. It was given 
at once. Stuart added, moreover, that he had merely 
taken them on his staff while the battle lasted. They 
were now to return to their own chief. But his heart 
warmed to them both and he said to them that if they 
happened to need a friend to come to him. 

They thanked Stuart and rode away, two very sober 
youths indeed. Both were appalled by the vast slaugh- 
ter of Chancellorsville. Harry began to have a feel- 
ing that their victories were useless. After every tri- 
umph the enemy was more numerous and powerful 
than ever. And the cloud of Jackson’s condition hung 

260 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


heavy over both. When he was first struck down in 
i the Wilderness, Harry had felt no hope for him, and 
i now that premonition was coming true. 

They learned that he was in the Chandler House 
! at a little place called Guiney’s Station, and they rode 
; briskly toward it. They passed many troops in camp, 

: resting after their tremendous exertions, many of 
whom knew them to be officers of Jackson’s staff. 
They were besieged by these. Young soldiers fairly 
clung to their horses and demanded news of Jackson, 
' who, they had heard, was dying. Harry and Dalton 
I returned replies as hopeful as they could make them, 
but their faces belied their word. Gloom hung over 
the Southern army which had just won its most bril- 
; liant victory. 

Harry and Dalton found the same gloom at the 
Chandler House. The officers who were there wel- 
comed them in subdued tones, and in the house every- 
; body moved silently. The general’s wife and little 
daughter had just arrived from Richmond, and they 
were with him. But after a while the two young 
lieutenants were admitted. Jackson spoke a few words 
to both, as they bent beside his bed, and commended 
them as brave soldiers. Harry knew now, when he 
looked at the thin face and the figure scarcely able to 
move, that the great Jackson was going. 

They went out oppressed by grief, and sought the 
Invincibles, whom they at last found encamped in an 
old orchard. Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel 
St. Hilaire sat beneath an apple tree, and the chess- 
board was between them. 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


“They’ve been sitting there an hour,” whispered 
Langdon, “but they haven’t made a single move, nor 
will they make one if they stay there all day. It’s in 
my mind that neither of them sees the chessmen. In- 
stead they see the General — they visited him this 
morning.” 

Harry did not speak to the two colonels, but turned 
away. 

“We found the body of Bertrand yesterday,” said 
Langdon, “and buried it just where he fell.” 

“I’m glad of that,” said Harry. 

Harry and Dalton lingered at the Chandler House ‘ 
with the staff to which they belonged. Three days 
passed and Sunday came. Jackson was sinking all the 
while, and that morning the doctor informed his wife 
that he was about to die. Pneumonia had followed the 
weakness from his wounds and his breathing had 
grown very faint. Mrs. Jackson herself told him that 
all hope for him was gone, and he heard the words 
with resignation. 

After a while, as Harry learned, his mind began to 
wander. He spoke in disjointed sentences of the 
army, of his battles, of his boyhood and of his 
friends. This lasted into the afternoon, when he 
sank into unconsciousness. Then came his death, 
and it was much like that of Napoleon. He 
awoke suddenly from a deep stupor and cried out, in 
a clear voice : 

“Order A. P. Hill to prepare for action ! Pass the 
infantry to the front! Tell Major Hawks ” 

He stopped, seemed to sink into a stupor again, but 


CHANCELLORSVILLE 


a little later roused suddenly from it once more, 
and said, in the same clear voice : 

‘Tet us cross over the river and rest under the shade 
of the trees.” 

Then, as his eyes closed, the soul of the great Chris- 
tian soldier passed into the fathomless beyond, to sit 
in peace with Cromwell and Washington, and in time 
with Lee and Grant and Thomas, who were yet to 
come. 

That night a whole army wept. 


CHAPTER X 


THE NORTHERN MARCH 

I T was days before Harry felt as if life could 
move on in the usual way. He had loved Jack- 
son next to his father. In fact, in the absence 
of his own father the great general had stood in that 
place to him. He had received from him so many 
marks of approval, and, ridirig as a trusted member 
of Jackson’s staff, his head had been in such a rosy 
cloud of glory and victory, that now it seemed for a 
while as if the world had come to an end. 

He was disappointed, too, that they had reaped so 
little from Chancellorsville. He believed at times that 
his general had died in vain. He had but to ride a 
little distance and see the enemy across the Rappa- 
hannock, where he had been so many months, with 
the same bristling guns and the same superior forces. 

He had been eager, like all the other young officers, 
to move directly after the battle and attack the foe on 
his own ground, but when he talked with the two 
colonels he realized that their numbers were too small. 
They must wait for Longstreet’s great division, which 
had been detached from the battle to guard against a 

264 


THE NORTHERN MARCH 


possible flank attack upon Richmond. Oh, if Long- 
street and his twenty thousand veterans had been at 
Chancellorsville ! And if Jackson had not fallen just 
at the moment when he was about to complete the 
destruction of Hooker’s right wing! He believed that 
then they would have annihilated the Army of the ^ 
Potomac, that only a few fugitives from it would have 
escaped across the Potomac. The time came to him 
in after years when he often asked himself would 
such a result have been a good result for the Amer- 
ican people. 

But now he was only a boy, as old, it is true, as 
many boys who led companies, or even regiments, and 
the days were sufficient for his thoughts. He was 
not thinking of the distant years and what they might 
bring. Both he and Dalton felt joy when General 
Lee sent for them and told them that, having been 
valued members of General Jackson’s staff, they were 
now to become members of his own. All he asked of 
them was to serve him as well as they had served 
General Jackson. 

Harry was moved so deeply that he could scarcely 
thank him. He felt springing up in his breast the 
same affection and hero-worship for Lee that he had 
felt for Jackson. And as the close association with 
Lee continued, this feeling grew both in his heart and 
in that of Dalton, 

The soul of youth cannot be kept down, and Harry’s 
spirits returned as he rode back and forth on Lee’s 
errands. Moreover, spring was in full tide and his 
blood rose with it. The Wilderness, in which the 

265 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


dead men lay, and all the surrounding country were 
turning a deep green, and the waters of the Rappa- 
hannock often flashed in gold or silver as the sun 
blazed or grew dim. Pleasant relations between the 
sentries on the two sides of the river were renewed. 
Tobacco, newspapers, and other harmless articles were 
passed back and forth, when the oflicers conveniently 
turned their backs. Nor was it always that the 
younger oflicers turned away. 

Harry was in a boat near the right bank when he 
saw another boat about thirty yards from the left 
shore. It contained a half dozen men, and he recog- 
nized one of the figures at once. Putting his hands, 
trumpet-shaped, to his mouth, he shouted: 

"‘Mr. Shepard! Oh, I say, Mr. Shepard!’' 

The man looked up, and, evidently recognizing 
Harry, he had the boat rowed a little nearer. Harry 
had his own moved forward a little, and he stopped 
at a point where they could talk conveniently. 

“You may not believe me,” said Shepard, “but I 
felt pleasure when I heard your voice and recognized 
your face. I am glad to know that you did not fall 
in the great battle.” 

“I do believe you, and I am not merely exchanging 
compliments when I say that I rejoice that you, too, 
came out of it alive.” 

“Nevertheless, luck was against us then,” said 
Shepard, and Harry, even at the distance, saw a 
shadow cross his face. “I saw the great flank move- 
ment of Jackson and I understood its nature. I was 
on my way to General Hooker with all speed to warn 


266 


THE NORTHERN MARCH 


him, and I would have got there in time had it not 
[ been for a chance bullet that stunned me. That bullet 
j cost us thousands of men.” 

I ''And the bullets that struck General Jackson will 
cost us a whole army corps.” 

"We hear that they were fired by your own men.” 

"So they were. A North Carolina company in the 
I darkness took us for the enemy.” 

"I don’t rejoice over the fall of a great and valiant 
' foe, but whether Jackson lived or died the result would 
: be the same. I told you long ago that the forces of 
the Union could never be beaten in the long run, and 
I repeated it to you another time. Now I repeat it 
once more. We have lost two great battles here, but 
you make no progress. We menace you as much as 
ever.” 

"But your newspapers say you’re growing very 
tired. There’s no nation so big that it can’t be ex- 
hausted.” 

"But you’ll be exhausted first. So long, I see some 
of our generals coming out on the bluffs with their 
glasses. I suppose we mustn’t appear too friendly.” 

"Good-bye, Mr. Shepard. We’ve lost Jackson, but 
we’ve many a good man yet. I think our next great 
; battle will be farther north.” 

' They had not spoken as enemies, but as friends who 
held different views upon an important point, and now 
they rowed back peacefully, each to his own shore. 

: With the return of Longstreet, the Southern army 

was raised to greater numbers than at Chancellors- 
ville. With Stuart’s matchless cavalry it numbered 

267 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


nearly eighty thousand men, most of them veterans, 
and a cry for invasion came from the South. What 
was the use of victories like Fredericksburg and Chan- 
cellorsville, if they merely left matters where they 
were ? The fighting hitherto had been done on 
Southern soil. The South alone had felt the presence 
of war. It was now time for the North to have a I 
taste of it. 

Harry and his comrades heard this cry, and it 
seemed to them to be full of truth. They ought to 
strike straight at the heart of the enemy. When their 
victorious brigades threatened Philadelphia and New 
York, the two great commercial centers of the North, . 
then the Northern people would not take defeat so 
easily. It would be a different matter altogether when 
a foe appeared at their own doors. 

Rumors that the invasion would be undertaken soon , 
spread thick and fast. Harry saw his general, Lee ; 
now in place of Jackson, in daily conference with his 
most trusted lieutenants. Longstreet and A. P. Hill 
were there often, and one day Harry saw riding 
toward headquarters a man who had only one leg and 
who was strapped to his saddle. But a strong Roman 
nose and a sharp, penetrating eye showed that he was 
a man of force and decision. Once, when he lifted his 
hat to return a salute, he showed a head almost wholly 
bald. 

Harry looked at him for a moment or two unknow- 
ing, and then crying ‘‘General Ewell!” ran forward 
to greet him. 

Harry was right. It was what was left of him 
268 


THE NORTHERN MARCH 


who had been Jackson’s chief lieutenant in the Valley 
campaigns and who had fallen wounded so terribly 
at the Second Manassas. After nine months of suf- 
fering, here he was again, as resolute and indomitable 
as ever, able to ride only when he was strapped in his 
saddle, but riding as much as any other general, never- 
theless. 

And Ewell, who might well have retired, was one 
of those who had most to lose by war. He had a 
great estate in the heart of a rich country near Vir- 
ginia’s ancient capital, Williamsburg. There he had 
lived in a large house, surrounded by a vast park, all 
his own. Even as the man, maimed in body but as 
dauntless of mind as ever, rode back to Lee, his estate 
was in the hands of Union troops. He had all to 
lose, but did not hesitate. 

Harry saluted him and spoke to him gladly. Ewell 
turned his piercing eyes upon him, hesitated a moment, 
and then said: 

“It’s Kenton, young Harry Kenton of Jackson’s 
staff. I remember you in the Valley now. We’ve 
lost the great Jackson, but we’ll beat the Yankees 
yet.” 

Then he let loose a volley of oaths, much after 
the fashion of the country gentleman of that time, 
both in America and England. But Harry only 
smiled. 

“I’m to have command of Jackson’s old corps, the 
second,” said Ewell, “and if you’re not placed I’ll be 
glad to have you on my staff.” 

“I thank you very much, General,” said Harry with 

269 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


great sincerity, ''but General Lee has taken me over, 
because I was with Jackson.’^ 

"Then you’ll have all the fighting you want,” said 
the indomitable Ewell. "General Lee never hesitates 
to strike. But don’t be the fool that I was and get 
your leg shot off. If anything has to go, let it be an 
arm. Look at me. I could ride with any man in all 
Virginia, a state of horsemen, and now a couple of 
men have to come and fasten me in the saddle with 
straps. But never mind.” 

He rode cheerily on, and Harry, turning back, met 
St. Clair and Langdon. Both showed a pleased ex- 
citement. 

"What is it?” asked Harry. 

"Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire 
are at it again, and there have been results !” 

"What has happened?” 

"Colonel Talbot has lost a bishop and Lieutenant- 
Colonel St. Hilaire has lost a knight. Each claims 
that he has gained a technical advantage in position, 
and they’ve stopped playing to argue about it. From 
the way they act you’d think they were Yankee gen- 
erals. See ’em over there under the boughs of that 
tree, sitting on camp stools, with the chessmen on an- 
other camp stool between them.” 

Harry looked over a little ridge and saw the 
two colonels, who were talking with great earnest- 
ness, each obviously full of a desire to convince the 
other. 

"My dear Hector,” said Colonel Talbot, "each of 
us has taken a piece. It is not so much a question of 


270 


! THE NORTHERN MARCH 

ij 

! the relative value of these pieces as it is of the position 
: into which you force your opponent.” 

I ‘‘Exactly so, Leonidas. I agree with you on that 
:: point, and for that reason I aver that I have made a 
I tactical gain.” 

“Hector, you are ordinarily a man of great intelli- 
1 gence, but in this case you seem to have lost some 
j part of your mental powers.” 

“One of us has suffered such a loss, and while T 
j am too polite to name him, I am sure that I am not 
i the man.” 

“Ah, well, we’ll not accuse each other while the 
; issue still hangs in doubt. Progress with the game 
I will show that I am right.” 

' When Harry passed that way an hour later they 
were still bent over the board, the best of friends 
again, but no more losses had been suffered by either. 

May was almost spent and spring was^ at the full. 
The Southern army was now at its highest point in 
both numbers and effectiveness. Only Jackson was 
gone, but he was a host and more, and when Lee said 
that he had lost his right arm, he spoke the truth, as 
he was soon to find. Yet the Southern power was at 
the zenith and no shadow hung over the veteran and 
devoted troops who were eager to follow Lee in that 
invasion of the North of which all now felt sure. 

Doubts were dispelled with the close of May. 
Harry was one of the young officers who carried the 
commander-in-chief ’s orders to the subordinate gen- 
erals, and while he knew details, he wondered what 
the main plan would be. Young as he was he knew 


271 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


that no passage could be forced across the Rappahan- 
nock in the face of the Army of the Potomac, which 
was now as numerous as ever, and which could sweep 
the river and its shores with its magnificent artillery. 
But he had full confidence in Lee. The spell that 
Jackson had thrown over him was transferred to Lee, 
who swayed his feelings and judgment with equal 
power. 

The figure of Lee in the height and fulness of vic- 
tory was imposing. An English general who saw him, 
and who also saw all the famous men of his time, 
vv^ote long afterward that he was the only great man 
he had ever seen who looked all his greatness. Tall, 
strongly built, with thick gray hair, a short gray 
beard, clipped closely, ruddy complexion and blue eyes, 
he was as careful in dress as Jackson had been care- 
less. He spoke with a uniform politeness, not super- 
ficial, but from the heart, and his glance was nearly 
always grave and benevolent. 

General Lee in these warm days of late spring 
occupied a large tent. Even when the army was not 
on the march he invariably preferred tents to houses, 
and now Harry saw nearly all the famous Southern 
generals in the east passing through that door. There 
was Longstreet, blue of eye like Lee, full bearded, 
thick and powerful, and proud of his horsemanship, 
in which he excelled. 

Ewell, too, stumped in on his crutches, vigorous, 
enthusiastic, but never using profane language where 
Lee was. And there was A. P. Hill, of soldierly 
slenderness and of fine, pleasing manner; McLaws, 


272 


J 


THE NORTHERN MARCH 

who had done so well at Antietam; Pickett, not yet 
dreaming of the one marvellous achievement that was 
to be his; Old Jubal Early, as he was familiarly called, 
bald, bearded, rheumatic, profane, but brave and able ; 
Hood, tall, yellow-haired; Pender, the North Caro- 
linian, not yet thirty, religious like Jackson, and 
doomed like him to fall soon in battle; Heth, Edward 
Johnson, Anderson, Trimble, Stuart, as gay and dan- 
dyish as ever; Ramseur, Jones, Daniel, young Fitz- 
hugh Lee; Pendleton, Armistead, and a host of others 
whose names remained memorable to him. They 
were all tanned and sun-burned men. Few had reached 
early middle age, and the shadows of death were al- 
ready gathering for many of them. 

But the high spirits of the Southern army merely 
' became higher as they began to make rapid but secret 
preparation for departure. The soldiers did not know 
where they were going, except that it was into the 
North, and they began to discuss the nature of the 
country they would find there. Harry took the mes- 
sage to the 'Invincibles to pack and march. Colonel 
Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire reluc- 
tantly dropped their unfinished game, put up the chess- 
men, and in an hour the Invincibles — few, but trim 
and strong — were marching to a position farther up 
the river. 

The corps of Longstreet was to lead the way, and 
it would march the next morning. Harry now knew 
that the army would advance by way of the Shenan- 
doah valley. The Northern troops had been raiding in 
the great valley and again had retaken Winchester, 


273 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


the pleasant little city so beloved of Jackson. Harry 
shared the anger at this news that Jackson would 
have felt had he been alive to hear it. 

Harry was well aware, however, that the army 
could not slip away from its opponent. Hooker, still 
in command, was watching on the heights across the 
river, and there were the captive balloons hovering 
again in the sky. But the spirit of the troops was 
such that they did not care whether their march was 
known or not. 

Harry and Dalton were awake early on the morn- 
ing of the third of June, and they saw the corps of 
Longstreet file silently by, the bugle that called them 
away being the first note of the great and decisive 
Gettysburg campaign. They were better clothed and 
in better trim than they had been in a long time. They 
walked with an easy, springy gait, and the big guns 
rumbled at the heels of the horses, fat from long rest 
and the spring grass. They were to march north and 
west to Culpeper, fifty miles away, and there await 
the rest of the army. 

Harry and Dalton felt great exhilaration. Move- 
ment was good not only for the body, but for the 
spirit as well. It made the blood flow more freely 
and the brain grow more active. Moreover, the beauty 
of the early summer that had come incited one to 
greater hope. 

The great adventure had now begun, but it was not 
unknown to Hooker and his watchful generals on the 
other shore. The ground was dry and they had seen 
a column of dust rise and move toward the northwest. 


274 


THE NORTHERN MARCH 


Their experienced eyes told them that such a cloud 
must be made by marching troops, and the men in 
the balloons with their glasses were able to catch the 
gleam of steel from the bayonets of Longstreet’s 
men as they took the long road to Gettysburg. 

Hooker had good men with him. He, too, as he 
stood on the left bank of the Rappahannock, was sur- 
rounded by able and famous generals, and others were 
to come. There was Meade, a little older than the 
others, but not old, tall, thin, stooped a bit, wearing 
glasses, and looking like a scholar, with his pale face 
and ragged beard, a cold, quiet man, able and thor- 
ough, but without genius. Then came Reynolds, mod- 
est and quiet, who many in the army claimed would 
have shown the genius that Meade lacked had it not 
been for his early death, for he too, like Pender, would 
soon be riding to a soldier’s grave. And then were 
Doubleday and Newton and Hancock, a great soldier, 
a man of magnificent presence, whose air and manner 
always inspired enthusiasm, soon to be known as 
Hancock the Superb; Sedgwick, a soldier of great 
insight and tenacity; Howard, a religious man, who 
was to come out of the war with only one arm ; Hunt 
and Gibbon, and Webb and Sykes, and Slocum and 
Pleasanton, who commanded the cavalry, and many 
others. 

These men foresaw the march of Lee into the 
North, and the people behind them realized that they 
were no longer carrying the battle to the enemy. He 
was bringing it to them. Apprehension spread through 
the North, but it was prepared for the supreme effort. 


275 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


The Army of the Potomac, despite Fredericksburg and 
Chancellorsville, had no fear of its opponent, and the 
veterans in blue merely asked for another chance. 

On the following morning and the morning after, 
Ewell’s corps followed Longstreet in two divisions 
toward the general rendezvous at Culpeper Court 
House, but Lee himself, although most of his troops 
were now gone, did not yet move. Hill’s corps had 
been held to cover any movement of the Army of the 
Potomac at Fredericksburg, and Lee and his staff 
remained there for three days after Longstreet’s 
departure. 

The Invincibles had gone, but Harry and Dalton 
were just behind Lee, who sat on his white horse. 
Traveler, gazing through his glasses toward a division 
of the Army of the Potomac which on the day before 
had crossed the Rappahannock, under a heavy fire 
from Hill’s men. 

But Harry knew that it was no part of Lee’s plan ' 
to drive these men back across the river. A. P. Hill 
on the heights would hold them and would be a screen 
between Hooker’s army and his own. So the young 
staff officer merely watched his commander who 
looked long through his glasses. 

It was now nearly noon, and the June sky was 
brilliant with the sun moving slowly toward the 
zenith. Lee at length lowered his glasses and, turning 
to his staff, said : 

‘‘Now, gentlemen, we ride.” 

Harry by some chance looked at his watch, and he 
always remembered that it was exactly noon when he 

276 


THE NORTHERN MARCH 


started on the journey that was to lead him to Gettys- 
burg. He and Dalton from a high crest looked back 
toward the vast panorama of hills, valleys, rivers and 
forest that had held for them so many thrilling and 
terrible memories. 

There lay the blackened ruins of Fredericksburg. 
There were the heights against which the brave 
Northern brigades had beat in vain and with such 
awful losses. And beyond, far down under the hori- 
zon, was the tragic Wilderness in which they had won 
Chancellorsville and in which Jackson had fallen. 
Harry choked and turned away from the fresh wound 
that the recollection gave him. 

Lee and his staff rode hard all that afternoon and 
most of the night through territory guarded well 
against Northern skirmishers or raiding bands, and 
the next day they were with the army at Culpeper 
Court House. Meanwhile Hooker was undecided 
whether to follow Lee or move on Richmond. But 
the shrewd Lincoln telegraphed him that Lee was his 
''true objective.” At that moment the man in the 
i White House at Washington was the most valuable 
I general the North had, knowing that Lee in the field 
' with his great fighting force must be beaten back, 
and that otherwise Richmond would be worth nothing. 

! It was Harry’s fortune in the most impressionable 
' period of life to be in close contact for a long time 
with two very great men, both of whom had a vast 
. influence upon him, creating for him new standards of 
‘ energy and conduct. In after years when he thought 
- of Lee and Jackson, which was nearly every day, no 


277 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


weighing of the causes involved in the quarrel between 
the sections was made in his mind. They were his 
heroes, and personally they could do no wrong. 

As Lee rode on with his staff through the fair 
Virginia country he talked little, but more than was 
Jackson’s custom. Harry saw his brow wrinkle now 
and then with thought. He knew that he was plan- 
ning, planning all the time, and he knew, too, what a 
tremendous task it was to bring all the scattered 
divisions of an army to one central point in the face 
of an active enemy. This task was even greater than 
Harry imagined, as Lee’s army would soon be strung 
along a line of a hundred miles, and a far-seeing 
enemy might cut it apart and beat it in detail. Lee 
knew, but he showed no sign. 

Harry felt an additional elation because he rode 
westward and toward that valley in which he had fol- 
lowed Jackson through the thick of great achieve- 
ments. In the North they had nicknamed it ‘‘The 
Valley of Humiliation,” but Jackson was gone, and 
Milroy, whom he had defeated once, was there again, 
holding and ruling the little city of Winchester. 
Harry’s blood grew hot, because he, too, as Jackson 
had, loved Winchester. He did not know what was 
in Lee’s mind, but he hoped that a blow would be 
struck at Milroy before they began the great invasion 
of the North. 

Culpeper was a tiny place, a court house and not 
much more, but now its eager and joyous citizens 
welcomed a great army. Although Hill and his corps 
were yet back watching Hooker, fifty thousand vet- 

278 


THE NORTHERN MARCH 


erans were gathered at the village. Soon they would 
be seventy thousand or more, and Culpeper rejoiced 
yet again. The women and children — the men were 
but few, gone to the war — were never too tired to 
seek glimpses of the famous generals, whom they re- 
garded as their champions. Stuart, in his brilliant 
uniform, at the head of his great cavalry command, 
appealed most to the young, and his gay spirit and 
frank manners delighted everybody. They paid little 
attention to the Northern cavalry and infantry on the 
other side of the Rappahannock, knowing that Hook- 
er’s main army was yet far away, and feeling secure 
in the protection of Lee and his victorious army. 

Harry slept heavily that night, wearied by the long 
ride. He, Dalton and two other young officers had 
been assigned to a small tent, but, taking their blankets, 
they slept under the stars. Harry seldom cared for 
a roof now on a dry, warm night. He had become so 
much used to. hardships and unlimited spaces that he 
preferred his blankets and the free breezes that blew 
about the world. It was a long time after the war 
before he became thoroughly reconciled to bedrooms 
in warm weather. 

He was aroused the next morning by Dalton, who 
pulled him by his feet out of his blankets. 

^'Stick your head in a pail of water,” said Dalton, 
‘‘and get your breakfast as soon as you can. Every- 
thing is waiting on you.” 

“How dare you, George, drag me by the heels that 
way? I was marching down Broadway in New York 
at the head of our conquering army, and millions of 


279 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Yankees were pointing at me, all saying with one 
voice: ‘That’s the fellow that beat us.’ Now you’ve 
spoiled my triumph. And what do you mean by say- 
ing that everything is waiting for me?” 

“Our army, as you know, is spectacular only in its 
achievements, but to-day we intend to have a little 
splendor. The commander-in-chief is going to review 
Jeb Stuart’s cavalry. For dramatic effect it’s a chance 
that Stuart won’t miss.” 

“That’s so. Just tell ’em I’m coming and that the 
parade can begin.” 

Harry bathed his face and had a good breakfast, 
but there was no need to hurry. Jeb Stuart, as Dalton 
had predicted, was making the most of his chance. 
He was going not only to parade, but to have a mock 
battle as well. As the sun rose higher, making the 
June day brilliant. General Lee and his staff, dressed 
in their best, rode slowly to a little hillock command- 
ing a splendid view of a wide plain lying east of Cul- 
peper Court House. 

General Lee was in a fine uniform, his face shaded 
by the brim of the gray hat which pictures have made 
so familiar. His cavalry cape swung from his shoul- 
ders, but not low enough to hide the splendid sword 
at his belt. His face was grave and his whole appear- 
ance was majestic. If only Jackson were there, riding 
by his side ! Harry choked again. 

Lee sat on his white horse. Traveler, and above him 
on a lofty pole a brilliant Confederate flag waved in 
the light wind. Harry and Dalton, as the youngest, 
took their modest places in the rear of the group of 

280 


THE NORTHERN MARCH 


staff officers, just behind Lee, and looked expectantly 
over the plain. They saw at the far edge a long line 
of horsemen, so long, in fact, that the eye did not 
travel its full distance. Nearer by, all the guns of 
“Stuart’s Horse Artillery” were posted upon a hill. 

Harry’s heart began to beat at the sight — mimic, 
not real, war, but thrilling nevertheless. A bugle sud- 
denly sounded far away, its note coming low, but 
mellow. Other bugles along the line sang the same 
tune, and then came rolling thunder, as ten thousand 
matchless horsemen, led by Stuart himself, charged 
over the plain straight toward the hill on which Lee 
sat on his horse. 

The horsemen seemed to Harry to rise as if they 
were coming up the curve of the earth. It was a tre- 
mendous and thrilling sight. The hoofs of ten thou- 
sand horses beat in unison. Every man held aloft his 
sabre, and the sun struck upon their blades and glanced 
off in a myriad brilliant beams. Harry glanced at Lee 
and he saw that the blue eyes were gleaming. He, too, 
sober and quiet though he was, felt pride as the Murat 
of the South led on his legions. 

The cavalrymen, veering a little, charged toward 
the guns on the hill, and they received them with a 
discharge of blank cartridges which made the plain 
shake. Back and forth the mimic battle rolled, charge 
and repulse, and the smoke of the firing drifted over 
the plain. But the wild horsemen wheeled and turned, 
always keeping place with such superb skill that the 
officers and the infantry looking on burst again and 
again into thunderous applause. 

281 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


The display lasted some time. When it was over 
and the smoke and dust were settling, General Lee and 
his staff rode back to their quarters, the young officers 
filled with pride at the spectacle and more confident 
than ever that their coming invasion of the North 
would be the final triumph. 

Northern cavalry, on the other side of the river, 
had heard the heavy firing and they could not under- 
stand it. Could their forces following Lee on the 
right bank be engaged in battle with him? They had 
not heard of any such advance by their own men, yet 
they plainly heard the sounds of a heavy cannonade, 
and it was a matter into which they must look. They 
had disregarded sharp firing too often before and they 
were growing wary. But with that wariness also came 
a daring which the Union leaders in the east had not 
usually shown hitherto. They had a strong cavalry 
force in three divisions on the other side of the river, 
and the commanders of the division, Buford, Gregg 
and Duffie, with Pleasanton over all, were forming a 
bold design. 

Events were to move fast for Harry, much faster 
than he was expecting. He was sent that night with 
a note to Stuart, who went into camp with his ten 
thousand cavalry and thirty guns on a bare eminence 
called Fleetwood Hill. The base of the hill was sur- 
rounded by forest, and not far away was a little, place 
called Brandy Station. Harry was not to return until 
morning, as he had been sent late with the message, 
and after delivering it to Stuart he hunted up his 
friend Sherburne. 


282 


THE NORTHERN MARCH 


He found the captain sitting by a low campfire and 
he was made welcome. Sherburne, after the parade 
and sham battle, had cleaned the dust from his uni- 
form and he was now as neat and trim as St. Clair 
himself. 

“Sit down, Harry,” he said with the greatest genial- 
ity. “Here, orderly, take his horse, but leave him his 
blankets. You’ll need the blankets to-night, Harry, 
because you bunk with us in the Inn of the Green- 
wood Tree. We’ve got a special tree, too. See it 
there, the oak with the great branches.” 

“I’ll never ask anything better in summer time, pro- 
vided it doesn’t rain,” said Harry. 

“Wasn’t that a fine parade?” Sherburne ran on. 
“And this is the greatest cavalry force that we’ve had 
during the war. Why, Stuart can go anywhere and 
do anything with it. A lot of Virginia scouts under 
Jones are watching the fords, and we’ve got with us 
such leaders as Fitz Lee, Robertson, Hampton and the 
commander-in-chief’s son, W. H. F. Lee — why should 
a man be burdened with three initials? We can take 
care of any cavalry force that the Yankees may send 
against us.” 

“I’ve noticed in the recent fighting,” said Harry, 
“that the Northern cavalrymen are a lot better than 
they used to be. Most of us were born in the saddle, 
but they had to learn to ride. They’ll give us a tough 
fight now whenever we meet ’em.” 

• “I agree with you,” said Sherburne, “but they can’t 
beat us. You can ride back in the morning, Harry, 
and report to the commander-in-chief that he alone 

283 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


can move us from this position. Listen to that stamp- 
ing of hoofs! Among ten thousand horses a lot are 
likely to be restless ; and look there at the hilltop where 
thirty good guns are ready to turn their mouths on 
any foe.” 

“I see them all,” said Harry, ‘‘and I think you’re 
right. I’ll ride back peaceably to General Lee in the 
morning, and tell him that I left ten thousand cavalry- 
men lying lazily on the grass, and ten thousand horses 
eating their heads off near Brandy Station.” 

“But to-night you rest,” said one of the young 
officers. “Do you smoke?” 

“I’ve never learned.” 

“Well, I don’t smoke either unless we get ’em from 
the Yankees. Here’s what’s left of a box that we 
picked up near the Chancellor House. It may have 
belonged to Old Joe Hooker himself, but if so he’ll 
never get it back again.” 

He distributed the cigars among the smokers, who 
puffed them with content. Meanwhile the noises of 
the camp sank, and presently Harry, taking his blan- 
kets and saying good night, went to sleep in the Inn 
of the Greenwood Tree. 


CHAPTER XI 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 

H arry was a fine sleeper. One learns to be 
in long campaigns. Most of those about him 
slept as well, and the ten thousand horses, 
which had been ridden hard in the great display during 
the day, also sank into quiet. The restless hoofs ceased 
to move. Now and then there was a snort or a neigh, 
but the noise was slight on Fleetwood Hill or in the 
surrounding forests. 

A man came through the thickets soon after mid- 
night and moved with the greatest caution toward the 
hill on which the artillery was ranged. He was in 
neither blue nor gray, just the plain garb of a civilian, 
but he was of strong figure and his smoothly shaven 
face, with its great width between the eyes and 
massive chin, expressed character and uncommon reso- 
lution. 

The intruder — he was obviously such, because he 
sought with the minutest care to escape observation — 
never left the shelter of the bushes. He had all the 
skill of the old forest runners, because his footsteps 
made no sound as he passed and he knew how to keep 

285 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


his figure always in the shadows until it became a 
common blur with them. 

His was a most delicate task, in which discovery 
was certain death, but he never faltered. His heart 
beat steadily and strong. It was an old risk to him, 
and he had the advantage of great natural aptitude, 
fortified by long training in a school of practice where 
a single misstep meant death. 

The sharp eyes of the spy missed nothing. He 
counted the thirty pieces of artillery on the hill. He 
estimated with amazing accuracy the number of 
Stuart’s horsemen. He saw a thousand proofs that 
the heavy firing he had heard in the course of the day 
was not due to battle with Northern troops. Al- 
though he stopped at times for longer looks, he made 
a wide circuit about the Confederate camp, and he was 
satisfied that Stuart, vigilant and daring though he 
might be, was not expecting an enemy. 

Shepard’s heart for the first time beat a little faster. 
He had felt as much as any general the Northern de- 
feats and humiliations in the east, but, like officers and 
soldiers, he was not crushed by them. He even felt 
that the tide might be about to turn. Lee, invading 
the North, would find before him many of the difficul- 
ties which had faced the Northern generals attacking 
the South. Shepard, a man of supreme courage, re- 
solved that he would spare no effort in the service to 
which he had devoted himself. 

He spent fully four hours in the thickets, and then, 
feeling that he had achieved his task, bore away 
toward the river. Taking off his coat and belt with 


286 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


pistols in it, and fastening* them about his neck, 
he swam with bold strokes to the other side of the 
stream. However, had anyone been on the watch 
at that very point, it was not likely that he would 
U^have been seen. It was the approach of dawn and 
'meavy mists were rising on the Rappahannock, as 
they had risen at Fredericksburg and Chancellors- 
ville. 

Shepard gave the countersign to the pickets and 
was shown at once to General Pleasanton, an alert, 
vigorous man, who was awaiting him. His report 
was satisfactory, because the cavalry general smiled 
and began to send quick orders to his leaders of 
divisions. 

But the peace in Stuart’s command was not broken 
that night. No one had seen the figure of the spy 
sliding through the thickets, and Harry and his com- 
rades in the Inn of the Greenwood Tree were very 
warm and snug in their blankets. As day came he 
yawned, stretched, closed his eyes again, thinking that 
he might have another precious fifteen minutes, but, 
recalling his resolution, sprang to his feet and began 
to rub his eyes clear. 

He had slept fully dressed, like all the rest, and he 
intended to go down to a brook in a few minutes and 
bathe his face. But he first gave Sherburne a ma- 
licious shove with his foot and bade him wake up, 
telling him that it was too late for an alert cavalry 
captain to be sleeping. 

Then Sherburne also yawned, stretched, and stood 
up, rubbing his eyes. The others about them rose too, 

287 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


and everybody felt chilled by the river fog, which was 
uncommonly heavy. 

“Breakfast for me,'' said Sherburne. 

“Not just now, I think," said Harry. “Listen! 
Aren’t those rifle shots?” 

A patter, patter, distant but clear in the morning, 
came from a point down the stream. 

“You’re right!" exclaimed Sherburne in alarm. 
“It’s on our side of the river and it’s increasing fast! 
As sure as we live, the enemy has crossed and 
attacked !" 

They were not left in doubt. The pickets, running 
in, told them that a heavy force of Northern cavalry 
was across the Rappahannock and was charging with 
vigor. In fact, two of the divisions had passed the 
fords unseen in the fog and were now rushing Stuart’s 
camp. 

But Stuart, although surprised, never for an in- 
stant lost his presence of mind. Throughout the 
Southern lines the bugles sounded the sharp call to 
horse. It was full time. The outposts had been routed 
already and were driven in on the main body. 

Harry ran to his horse, which had been left saddled 
and bridled for any emergency. He leaped upon him 
and rode by the side of Sherburne, whose troop was 
already in line. They could not see very well for the 
mists, but the fire in front of them from cavalry car- 
bines had grown into great violence. It made a huge 
shower of red dots against the white screen of the 
mist, and now they heard shouts and the beat of 
thousands of hoofs. 


288 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


'They’re making for our artillery !” exclaimed Sher- 
burne with true instinct. “Follow me, men! We 
must hold them back, for a few minutes at least!” 

Sherburne and his gallant troops were just in time. 
A great force of cavalry in blue suddenly appeared in 
the whitish and foggy dawn and charged straight for 
the guns. Without delaying a moment, Sherburne 
flung his troops in between, although they were out- 
numbered twenty to one or more. He did not expect 
to stop them; he merely hoped to delay them a few 
minutes, and therefore he offered himself as a sacrifice. 

Harry was beside Sherburne as they galloped 
straight toward the Northern cavalry, firing their 
short carbines and then swinging their sabres. 

“They’ll ride over us !” he shouted to Sherburne. 

“But we’ll trouble ’em a little as they pass!” the 
captain shouted back. 

Harry shut his teeth hard together. A shiver ran 
over him, and then his face grew hot. The pulses in 
his temples beat heavily. He was sure that Sherburne 
and he and all the rest were going to perish. The 
long and massive Northern line was coming on fast. 
They, too, had fired their carbines, and now thousands 
of sabres flashed through the mists. Harry was 
swinging his own sword, but as the great force bore 
down upon them, the white mist seemed to turn to red 
and the long line of horsemen fused into a solid mass, 
its front flashing with steel. 

He became conscious, as the space between them 
closed rapidly, that a heavy crackling fire was burst- 
ing from a wood between the Northern cavalry and 

289 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


the river. The Southern skirmishers, brushed away 
at first, had returned swiftly, and now they were send- 
ing a rain of bullets upon the blue cavalrymen. Many 
saddles were emptied, but the line went on, and struck 
Sherburne’s troop. 

Harry saw a man lean from his horse and slash at 
him with a sabre. He had no sabre of his own, only 
a small sword, but he cut with all his might at the 
heavy blade instead of the man, and he felt, rather 
than saw, the two weapons shatter to pieces. Then 
his horse struck another, and, reeling in the saddle, 
he snatched out a pistol and began to fire at anything 
that looked like a human shape. 

He heard all about him a terrible tumult of shots 
and shouts and the thunder of horses’ hoofs. He still 
saw the red mist and a thousand sabres flashing 
through it, and he heard, too, the clash of steel on 
steel. The Northern line had been stopped one min- 
ute, two minutes, and maybe three. He was conscious 
afterwards that in some sort of confused way he was 
trying to measure the time. But he was always quite 
certain that it was not more than three minutes. Then 
the Northern cavalry passed over them. 

Harry’s horse was fairly knocked down by the im- 
petus of the Northern charge, and the young rider was 
partly protected by his body from the hoofs that thun- 
dered over them. Horse and rider rose together. 
Harry found that the reins were still clenched in his 
hand. His horse was trembling all over from shock, 
and so was he, but neither was much harmed. Beyond 
him the great cavalry division was galloping on, and 


290 





“ Harry saw a man lean from his horse and slash at him 

with a sabre.” 






THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


he gazed at it a moment or two in a kind of stupor. 
But he became conscious that the fire of the South- 
ern skirmishers on its flank was growing heavier and 
that many horses without riders were running loose 
through the forest. 

Then his gaze turned back to the little band that 
had stood in the path of the whirlwind, and he uttered 
a cry of joy as he saw Sherburne rising slowly to his 
feet, the blood flowing from a wound in his left 
shoulder. 

‘Tt isn’t much, Harry,” said the captain. *Tt was 
only the point of the sabre that grazed me, but my 
horse was killed, and the shock of the fall stunned 
me for a moment or two. Oh, my poor troop !” 

There was good cause for his lament. Less than 
one-fourth of his brave horsemen were left unhurt or 
with but slight wounds. The wounded who could rise 
were limping away toward the thickets, and the un- 
wounded were seeking their mounts anew. Harry 
caught a riderless horse. His faculties were now 
clear and the effect of the physical shock had passed. 

“We held ’em three minutes at least. Captain,” he 
cried, “and it may be that three minutes were enough. 
We were surprised, but we are not beaten. Here, 
jump up! We’ve saved the guns from capture! And 
listen how the rifle fire is increasing.” 

Sherburne sprang into the saddle and his little band 
of surviving troopers gathered around him. They 
uttered a shout, too, as they saw heavy forces of their 
own cavalry coming up and charging, sabre in hand. 
Inspired by the sight and forgetting his wound, Sher- 


291 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


burne wheeled about and led his little band in a charge 
upon the Northern flank. 

A desperate battle with sabres ensued. Forest and 
open rang with shouts and the clash of steel, and hun- 
dreds of pistols flashed. The Northern horsemen were 
driven back. Davis, who led them here, a Southerner 
by birth, but a regular officer, a man of great merit, 
seeking to rally them, fell, wounded mortally. A 
strong body of Illinois troops came up and turned the 
tide of battle again. The Southern horsemen were 
driven back. Some of them were taken prisoners and 
a part of Stuart’s baggage became a Northern prize. 

This portion of the Southern cavalry under Jones, 
which Harry and Sherburne had joined, now merely 
sought to check the Northern advance until Stuart 
could arrive. Everyone expected Stuart. Such a 
brilliant cavalryman could not fail. But the Northern 
force was increasing. Buford and his men were com- 
ing down on their flank. It seemed that the Confed- 
erate force was about to be overwhelmed again, but 
suddenly their guns came into action. Shell and can- 
ister held back the Northern force, and then arose 
from the Southern ranks the shout : ‘‘Stuart ! Stuart !” 

Harry saw him galloping forward at the head of 
his men, his long, yellow hair flying in the air, his 
sabre whirled aloft in glittering circles, and he felt 
an immense sensation of relief. Leading his division 
in person, Stuart drove back the Northern horsemen, 
but he in his turn was checked by artillery and sup- 
porting columns of infantry in the wood. 

Pleasanton, the Union leader, was showing great 


292 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


skill and courage. Having profited by his enemy’s 
example, he was pressing his advantage to the utmost. 
Already he had found in Stuart’s captured baggage 
instructions for the campaign, showing that the whole 
Southern army was on its way toward the great val- 
ley, to march thence northward, and he resolved in- 
stantly to break up this advance as much as possible. 

Pleasanton pressed forward again, and Stuart pre- 
pared to meet him. But Harry, who was keeping by 
the side of Sherburne, saw Stuart halt suddenly. A 
messenger had galloped up to him and he brought 
formidable news. A heavy column of horsemen had 
just appeared directly behind the Southern cavalry and 
was marching to the attack. Stuart was in a trap. 

Harry saw that Stuart had been outgeneralled, and 
again he shut his teeth together hard. To be out- 
generalled did not mean that they would be outfought. 
The Northern force in their rear was the third divi- 
sion under Gregg, and Stuart sent back cavalry and 
guns to meet them. 

Harry now saw the battle on all sides of him. 
Cavalry were charging, falling back, and charging 
again. The whole forces of the two armies were 
coming into action. Nearly twenty thousand sabres 
were flashing in the sunlight that had driven away the 
fog. Harry had never before seen a cavalry battle 
on so grand a scale, but the confusion was so great 
that it was impossible for him to tell who was winning. 

The Northern horse took Fleetwood Hill; Stuart 
retook it. Then he sought to meet the cavalry divi- 
sion in his front, and drove it to the woods, where it 


293 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


reformed and hurled him back to the hill. The North- 
ern division, under Gregg, that had come up behind, 
fell with all its force on the Southern flank. Had it 
driven in the Southern lines here, Pleasanton’s victory 
would have been assured, but the men in gray, know- 
ing that they must stand, stood with a courage that 
defied everything. The heavy Northern masses could 
not drive them away, and then Stuart, whirling about, 
charged the North in turn with his thousands of horse- 
men. They were met by more Northern cavalry com- 
ing up, and the combat assumed a deeper and more 
furious phase. 

Sherburne, with the fragment of his troop and 
Harry by his side, was in this charge. The effect of 
it upon Harry, as upon his older comrade, was bewil- 
dering. The combatants, having emptied their pistols 
or thrust them back in their belts, were now using 
their sabres alone. Nearly twenty thousand blades 
were flashing in the air. Again the battle was face 
to face and the lines became mixed. Riderless horses, 
emerging from the turmoil, were running in all direc- 
tions, many of them neighing in pain and terror. Men, 
dismounted and wounded, were crawling away from 
the threat of the trampling hoofs. 

The gunners fired the cannon whenever they were 
sure they would not strike down their own, but the 
horsemen charged upon them and wrenched the guns 
from their hands, only to have them wrenched back 
again by the Southerners. It was the greatest cavalry 
battle of the war, and the spectacle was appalling. 
Many of the horses seemed to share the fury of their 


294 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


riders and kicked and bit. Their beating hoofs raised 
an immense cloud of dust, through which the blades of 
the sabres still flashed. 

Harry never knew how he went through it unhurt. 
Looking back, it seemed that such a thing was im- 
possible. Yet it occurred. But he became conscious 
that the Southern horsemen, after the long and des- 
perate struggle, were driving back those of the North. 
They had superior numbers. One of the Northern 
divisions, after having been engaged with infantry 
elsewhere, failed to come up. 

Pleasanton, after daring and skill that deserved 
greater success, was forced slowly to withdraw. 
Roused by the roar of the firing, heavy masses of 
Ewell’s infantry were now appearing on the horizon, 
sent by Lee, with orders to hurry to the utmost. 
Pleasanton, maintaining all his skill and coolness, dex- 
trously withdrew his men across the river, and Stuart 
did not consider it wise to follow. Each side had lost 
heavily. Pleasanton had not only struck a hard blow, 
but he had learned where Lee’s army lay, and, more- 
over, he had shown the horsemen of the South that 
those of the North were on the watch. 

It was late in the afternoon when the last North- 
ern rider crossed the Rappahannock, and Harry 
looked upon a field strewn with the fallen, both men 
and horses. Then he turned to Sherburne and bound 
up his wounded shoulder for him. The hurt was not 
serious, but Sherburne, although they had driven off 
the Northern horse, was far from sanguine. 

^Tt’s a Pyrrhic victory,” he said. ‘‘We had the 


295 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


superior numbers, and it was all we could do to beat 
them back. Besides, they surprised us, when we 
thought we had a patent on that sort of business.” 

‘It’s so,” said Harry, his somber glance passing 
again over the field. 

Their feeling was communicated, too, to the advanc- 
ing masses of infantry. The soldiers, when they saw 
the stricken field and began to hear details from their 
brethren of the horse, shook their heads. There was 
no joy of victory in the Southern army that night. 
The enemy, when he was least expected, had struck 
hard and was away. 

Harry rode to General Lee and gave him as many 
details as he could of the cavalry battle, to all of which 
the general listened without comment. He had re- 
ports from others also, and soon he dismissed Harry, 
who took up his usual night quarters with his blankets 
under a green tree. Here he found Dalton, who was 
eager to hear more. 

“They say that the Yankees, although inferior in 
numbers, pushed us hard, Harry; is it so?” he asked. 

“It is, and they caught us napping, too. George, 
I’m beginning to wonder what’s waiting for us there 
in the North.” 

It was dark now and he gazed toward the North, 
where the stars already twinkled serenely in the sky. 
It seemed to him that their army was about to enter 
some vast, illimitable space, swarming with unknown 
enemies. He felt for a little while a deep depression. 
But it was partly physical. His exertions of the day 
had been tremendous, and the intense excitement, too, 

296 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


had almost overcome him. The watchful Dalton no- 
ticed his condition, and wisely said nothing, allowing 
his pulses to regain their normal beat. 

It was nearly an hour before his nerves became 
quiet, and then he sank into a heavy sleep. In the 
morning youth had reasserted itself, both physically 
and mentally. His doubts and apprehensions were 
gone. The unconquerable Army of Northern Virginia 
was merely marching again to fresh triumphs. 

Although Hooker now understood Lee’s movement, 
and was pushing more troops forward on his side of 
the Rappahannock, the Southern general, with his eye 
ever on his main object, did not cease his advance. 
He had turned his back on Washington, and nothing, 
not even formidable irruptions like that of Pleasanton, 
could make him change his plan. 

The calls from the Valley of Virginia became more 
frequent and urgent. Messengers came to Lee, beg- 
ging his help. Milroy at Winchester, with a strong 
force, was using rigorous measures. The people 
claimed that he had gone far beyond the rules of war. 
Jackson had come more than once to avenge them, 
and now they expected as much of Lee. 

They did not appeal in vain. Harry saw Lee’s eyes 
flash at the reports of the messengers, and he himself 
took a dispatch, the nature of which he knew, to 
Ewell, who was in advance, leading Jackson’s old 
corps. Ewell, strapped to his horse, had regained his 
ruddiness and physical vigor. Harry saw his eyes 
shine as he read the dispatch, and he knew that noth- 
ing could please him more. 


297 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


“You know what is in this, Lieutenant Kenton?” 
he said, tapping the paper. 

“I do, sir, and I’m sorry I can’t go with you.” 

“So am I ; but as sure as you and I are sitting here 
on our horses, trouble is coming to Mr. Milroy. 
Some friends of yours in the little regiment called the 
Invincibles are just beyond the hill. Perhaps you’d 
like to see them.” 

Harry thanked him, saluted, and rode over the hill, 
where he found the two colonels, St. Clair and Lang- 
don riding at the head of their men. The youths 
greeted him with a happy shout and the colonels wel- 
comed him in a manner less noisy but as sincere. 

“The sight of you, Harry, is good for any kind of 
eyes,” said Colonel Talbot. “But what has brought 
you here?” 

“An order from General Lee to General Ewell.” 

“Then it must be of some significance.” 

“It is, sir, and since it will be no secret in a few 
minutes, I can tell you that this whole corps is going 
to Winchester to take Milroy. I wish I could go with 
you. Colonel, but I can’t.” 

“You were at Brandy Station, and we weren’t,” 
said St. Clair quietly. “It’s our turn now.” 

“Right you are, Arthur,” said Langdon. “I mean 
to take this man Milroy with my own hands. I re- 
member that he gave us trouble in Jackson’s time. 
He’s been licked once. What right has he to come 
back into the Valley?” 

“He’s there,” said Harry, “and they say that he’s 
riding it hard with ironshod hoofs.” 

298 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


“He won’t be doing it by the time we see you 
again,” said St. Clair confidently as they rode away. 

Harry did not see them again for several days, but 
when Ewell’s division rejoined the main army, all that 
St. Clair predicted had come to pass. St. Clair him- 
self, with his left arm in a sling, where it was to 
remain for a week, gave him a brief and graphic 
account of it. 

“All the soldiers in the army that he had once led 
knew how Old Jack loved that town,” he said, “and 
they were on fire to drive the Yankees away from it 
once more. We marched fast. We were the foot 
cavalry, just as we used to be; and, do you know, that 
Cajun band was along with our brigade, as lively as 
ever. The Yankees had heard of our coming, but 
late. They had already built forts around Winchester, 
but they didn’t dream until the last moment that a 
big force from Lee’s army was at hand. Their big- 
gest fort was on Applepie Ridge, some little distance 
from Winchester. We came up late in the afternoon 
and had to rest a while, as it was awful hot. Then 
we opened, with General Ewell himself in direct com- 
mand there. Old Jube Early had gone around to 
attack their other works, and we were waiting to hear 
the roaring of his guns. 

“We gave it to ’em hot and heavy. General Ewell 
was on foot — that is, one foot and a crutch — and you 
ought to have seen him hopping about among the 
falling cannon balls, watching and ordering every- 
thing. Sunset was at hand, with Milroy fighting 
us back and not dreaming that Early was coming 


299 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


on his flank. Then we heard Early’s thunder. In 
a few minutes his men stormed the fort on the hill 
next to him and turned its guns upon Milroy him- 
self. 

‘Tt was now too dark to go much further with 
the fighting, and we waited until the next morning to 
finish the business. But Milroy was a slippery fellow. 
He slid out in the night somehow with his men, and 
was five miles away before we knew he had gone. 
But we followed hard, overtook him, captured four 
thousand men and twenty-three cannon and scattered 
the rest in every direction. Wasn’t that a thorough 
job?” 

‘"Stonewall Jackson would never have let them 
escape through his cordon and get a start of five 
miles.” 

“That’s so, Harry, Old Jack would never have al- 
lowed it. But then, Harry, we’ve got to remember 
that there’s been only one Stonewall Jackson, and 
there’s no more to come.” 

“You’re telling the whole truth, St. Clair, and if 
General Ewell did let ’em get away, he caught ’em 
again. It was a brilliant deed, and it’s cleared the 
Valley of the enemy.” 

“Our scouts have reported that some of the fugi- 
tives have reached Pennsylvania, spreading the alarm 
there. I suppose they’ll be gathering troops in our 
front now. What’s the news from Hooker, Harry?” 

“He’s moving northwest to head us off, but I don’t 
think he has any clear idea where we’re going.” 

“Where are we going, Harry?” 


300 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


‘Tt’s more than I can tell. Maybe we’re aiming for 
Philadelphia.” 

‘‘Then there’ll be a big stir among the Quakers,” 
said Happy Tom. 

“It doesn’t matter, young gentlemen, where we’re 
going,” said Colonel Talbot, who heard the last words. 
“It’s our business to be led, and we know that we’re 
in the hands of a great leader. And we know, too, 
that whatever dangers he leads us into, he’ll share 
them to the full. Am I not right. Hector?” 

“You speak the full truth, Leonidas.” 

“Aye, aye, sir,” said Harry. “It’s sufficient for us 
to follow where General Lee leads.” 

“But we need a great victory,” said Colonel Talbot. 
“We’ve had news from the southwest. The enemy 
has penetrated too far there. That fellow Grant is 
a perfect bulldog. They say he actually means to 
take our fortress of Vicksburg. He always hangs on, 
and that’s bad for us. If we win this war, we’ve got 
to win it with some great stroke here in the east.” 

“You speak with your usual penetration and clear- 
ness, Leonidas,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. 
Hilaire, and then the two rode on, side by side, firm, 
quiet figures. 

Now came days when suspense and fear hung heavy 
over the land. The sudden blow out of the dark that 
had destroyed Milroy startled the North. The fugi- 
tives from his command told alarming stories of the 
great Southern force that was advancing. The divi- 
sion of Hill, watching Hooker on the Rappahannock, 
also dropped into the dark where Lee’s main army 


301 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


had already gone. The Army of the Potomac took 
up its march on a parallel line to the westward, but it 
was never able to come into close contact with the 
Army of Northern Virginia. There were clouds of 
skirmishers and cavalry between. 

Undaunted by his narrow escape at Brandy Station, 
Stuart showed all his old fire and courage, covering 
the flanks and spreading out a swarm of horsemen 
who kept off the Northern scouts. Thus Lee was 
still able to veil his movements in mystery, and the 
anxious Hooker finally sent forward a great force to 
find and engage Stuart’s cavalry. Stuart, now acting ^ 
as a rear guard, was overtaken near the famous old ■ 
battlefield of Manassas. For a long time he fought )| 
greatly superior numbers and held them fast until i. 
nightfall, when the Northern force, fearing some 
trap, fell back. | 

Harry had been sent back with two other staff offi- | 
cers, and from a distance he heard the crash and saw 
the flame of the battle. But he had no part in it, t'. 
merely reporting the result late in the night to his |- 
general, who speedily pressed on, disregarding what 
might occur on his flanks or in his rear, sure that his T 
lieutenants could attend to all dangers there. f 

The days were full of excitement for Harry. While I 
he remained near Lee, the far-flung cavalry continu- 
ally brought in exciting reports. As Harry saw it, ,7; 
the North was having a taste of what she had inflicted r- 
on the South. The news of Milroy’s destruction, 
startling enough in itself, had been magnified as it f 
spread on the wings of rumor. The same rumor en- | 


302 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


larged Lee’s army and increased the speed of his 
advance. 

Sherburne, recovered from his slight Avound, was 
the most frequent bringer of ijews. There was not 
one among all Stuart’s officers more daring than he, 
and he was in his element now, as they rode north- 
ward into the enemy’s country. He told how the 
troopers had followed Milroy’s fugitives so closely 
that they barely escaped across the Potomac, and then 
how the Unionists of Maryland had fled before the 
gray horsemen. 

Sherburne did not exaggerate. Hitherto the war 
had never really touched the soil of any of the free 
states, but now it became apparent that Pennsylvania, 
the second state of the Union in population, would be 
invaded. Excitement seized Harrisburg, its capital, 
which Lee’s army might reach at any time. People 
poured over the bridges of the Susquehanna and thou- 
sands of men labored night and day to fortify the 
city. 

Jenkins, a Southern cavalry leader, was the first to 
enter Pennsylvania, his men riding into the village 
of Greencastle, and proceeding thence to Chamber s- 
burg. While the telf^^raph all over the North told 
the story of his coming, and many thought that 
Lee’s whole army was at hand, Jenkins turned back. 
His was merely a small vanguard, and Lee had 
not yet drawn together his whole army into a com- 
pact body. 

The advance of Lee with a part of his army was 
harassed moreover by the Northern cavalry, which 


303 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


continued to show the activity and energy that it had 
displayed so freely at Pleasanton’s battle with Stuart. 
Harry, besides bearing messages for troops to come 
up, often saw, as he rode back and forth, the flame 
of firing on the skyline, and he heard the distant mut- 
ter of both rifle and cannon fire. Some of these en- 
gagements were fierce and sanguinary. In one, more 
than a thousand men fell, a half to either side. 

Harry was shot at several times on his perilous 
errands, and once he had a long gallop for safety. 
Then Lee stopped a while at the Potomac, with his 
army on both sides of the river. He was waiting to 
gather all his men together before entering Pennsyl- 
vania. Already they were in a country that was 
largely hostile to them, and now Harry saw the diffi- 
culty of getting accurate information. The farmers 
merely regarded them with lowering brows and re- 
fused to say anything about Union troops. 

Harry had parted company for the time with his 
friends of the Invincibles. They were far ahead with 
Ewell, while he and Dalton remained with Lee on 
the banks of the Potomac. Yet the delay was not as 
long as it seemed to him. Soon they took up their 
march and advanced on a loi^g line across the neck 
of Maryland into Pennsylvania, here a region of fer- 
tile soil, but with many stony outcrops. The little 
streams were numerous, flowing down to the rivers, 
and horses and men alike drank thirstily at them, be- 
cause the weather was now growing hot and the 
marching was bad. 

It was near the close of the month when Harry 

304 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


learned that Hooker had been relieved of the com- 
mand of the Army of the Potomac at his own request, 
and that he had been succeeded by Meade. 

“Do you know anything about Meade?’' he asked 
Dalton. 

“He’s been one of the corps commanders against 
us,” replied the Virginian, “and they say he’s cautious. 
That’s all I know.” 

“I think it likely that we’ll find out before long 
what kind of a general he is,” said Harry thought- 
fully. “We can’t invade the North without having a 
big battle.” 

The corps of Hill and Longstreet were now joined 
under the personal eye of Lee, who rode with his two 
generals. Ewell was still ahead. Finally they came 
to Chambersburg, which the Southern advance had 
reached earlier in the month, and Lee issued an order 
I that no devastation should be committed by his troops, 
an order that was obeyed. 

Harry and Dalton walked a little through the town, 

I and menacing looks met them everywhere. 

“We’ve treated ’em well, but they don’t like us,” he 
said to Dalton. 

’ “Why should they ? We come as invaders, as foes, 

! not as friends. Did our people in the Virginia towns 
I give the Yankees any very friendly looks?” 

‘ “Not that I’ve heard of. I suppose you can’t make 
i friends of a people whom you come to make war on, 

1 even if you do speak kind words to them.” 

' “Is General Stuart here?” asked Dalton. 

“No, he’s gone on a great raid with his whole force. 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


I suppose he’s going to sweep up many detachments 
of the enemy.” 

“And meanwhile we’re going on to Harrisburg, the 
capital of Pennsylvania.” 

“But it seems to me that Stuart ought to be with 
us.” 

“Maybe he’s gone to find out just where the Army 
of the Potomac is. We’ve lost Meade, and Meade 
has lost us. Some prisoners that we’ve brought in 
say that nobody in the North knows just where our 
army is, although all know that it’s in Pennsylvania.” 

But that night, while Harry was at General Lee’s 
headquarters, a scout arrived with news that the Army 
of the Potomac was advancing upon an almost parallel 
line and could throw itself in his rear. Other scouts 
came, one after another, with the same report. Harry 
saw the gravity with which the news was received, 
and he speedily gathered from the talk of those about 
him that Lee must abandon his advance to the Penn- 
sylvania capital and turn and fight, or be isolated far 
from Virginia, the Southern base. 

Stuart and the cavalry were still absent on a great 
raid. Lee’s orders to Stuart were not explicit, and 
the cavalry leader’s ardent soul gave to them the 
widest interpretation. Now they felt the lack of his 
horsemen, who in the enemy’s country could have 
obtained abundant information. A spy had brought 
them the news that the Army of the Potomac had 
crossed the Potomac and was marching on a parallel 
line with them, but at that point their knowledge 
ended. The dark veil, which was to be lifted in such 


306 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


a dramatic and terrible manner, still hung between 
the two armies. 

The weather turned very warm, as it was now 
almost July. So far as the heat was concerned Harry 
could not see any difference between Pennsylvania 
and Kentucky and Virginia. In all three the sun 
blazed at this time of the year, but the country was 
heavy with crops, now ripening fast. It was a region 
that flarry liked. He had a natural taste for broken 
land with slopes, forests, and many little streams of 
clear water. Most of the fields were enclosed in stone 
fences, and the great barns and well-built houses indi- 
cated prosperous farmers. 

: He and Dalton rode up to one of these houses, and, 

; finding every door and window closed, knocked on the 
i front door with a pistol butt. They knew it was 
i occupied, as they had seen smoke coming from the 
i chimney. 

‘This house surely belongs to a Dutchman,’^ said 
Dalton, meaning one of those Pennsylvanians of Ger- 
man descent who had settled in the rich southeast of 
I Pennsylvania generations ago. 

i ‘T fear they don’t know how to talk English,” said 
I Harry. 

I “They can if they have to. Hit that door several 
l| times more, Harry, and hit it hard. They’re a thrifty 
people, and they wouldn’t like to see a good door 

I destroyed.” 

Harry beat a resounding tattoo until the door was 
, suddenly thrown open and the short figure of a man 
L of middle years, chin-whiskered and gray, but holding 


307 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


an old-fashioned musket in his hands, confronted them. 

'Tut down that gun, Herr Schneider ! Put it down 
at once!” said Dalton, who had already levelled his 
pistol. 

The man was evidently no coward, but when he 
looked into Dalton’s eye, he put the musket on the 
floor. 

Harry, still sitting on his horse — they had ridden 
directly up to the front door — saw a stalwart woman 
and several children hovering in the dusk of the room 
behind the man. He watched the whole group, but he 
left the examination to Dalton. 

'T want you to tell me, Herr Schneider, the location 
of the Army of the Potomac, down to the last gun 
and man, and what are the intentions of General 
Meade,” said Dalton. 

The man shook his head and said, “Nein.” 

"Nine!” said Dalton indignantly. "General Meade 
has more than nine men with him! Come, out with 
the story ! All those tales about the rebels coming to 
burn and destroy are just tales, and nothing more. 
You understand what I’m saying well enough. Come, 
out with your information!” 

"Nein,” said the German. 

"All right,” said Dalton in a ferocious tone. "After 
all, we are the rebel ogres that you thought we were.” 

He turned toward his comrade and, with his back 
toward the German, winked and said: 

"What do you think I’d better do with him?” 

"Oh, kill him,” replied Harry carelessly. "He’s 
broad between the eyes and there’s plenty of room 

308 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


there for a bullet. You couldn’t miss at two yards.” 

The German made a dive toward his musket, but 
Dalton cried sharply: 

‘'Hands up or I shoot!” 

The German straightened himself and, holding his 
hands aloft, said: 

“You would not kill me in the shelter uf mein own 
house ?” 

“Well, that depends on the amount of English you 
know. It seems to me, Herr Schneider, that you 
learned our language very suddenly.” 

“I vas a man who learns very fast when it vas 
necessary. Mein brain vorks in a manner most von- 
derful ven I looks down the barrel of a big pistol.” 

“This pistol is a marvelous stimulant to a good 
education.” 

t “How did you know mein name vas Schneider?” 
“Intuition, Herr Schneider ! Intuition 1 We South- 
ern people have wonderful intuitive faculties.” 

“Veil, it vas not Schneider. My name vas Jacob 
Onderdonk.” 

Harry laughed and Dalton reddened. 

“The joke is on me, Mr. Onderdonk,” said Dalton. 
“But we’re here on a serious errand. Where is Gen- 
eral Meade?” 

“I haf not had my regular letter from General 
Meade this morning. Vilhelmina, you are sure ve haf 
noddings from General Meade?” 

“Noddings, Jacob,” she said. 

Dalton flushed again and muttered under his 
breath. 


309 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


*‘We want to know/' he said sharply, “if you have 
seen the Army of the Potomac or heard anything 
of it." 

A look of deep sadness passed over the face of 
Jacob Onderdonk. 

“I haf one great veakness," he said, “one dot makes 
my life mo^t bitter. I haf de poorest memory in de 
vorld. Somedimes I forget de face of mein own Vil- 
helmina. Maybe de Army uf de Potomac, a hundred 
thousand men, pass right before my door yesterday. 
Maybe, as der vedder vas hot, that efery one uf dem 
hundred thousand men came right into der house und 
take a cool drink out uf der water bucket. But I can- 
not remember. Alas, my poor memory!" 

“Then maybe Wilhelmina remembers." 

“Sh! do not speak uf dot poor voman. I do not 
let her go out uf der house dese days, as she may not 
be able to find der vay back in again." 

“We'd better go, George," said Harry. “I think 
we only waste time asking questions of such a forget- 
ful family." 

“It iss so," said Onderdonk; “but, young Mister 
Rebels, I remember one thing." 

“And what is that?" asked Dalton. 

“It vas a piece of advice dot I ought to gif you. 
You tell dot General Lee to turn his horse's head and 
ride back to der South. You are good young rebels. 
!I can see it by your faces. Ride back to der South, 
I tell you again. We are too many for you up here. 
Der field uf corn iss so thick und so long dot you 
cannot cut your way through it. Your knife may be 


310 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


sharp and heavy, but it vill vear out first. Do I not 
tell the truth, Vilhelmina, mein vife?” 

'‘All your life you haf been a speaker of der truth, 
Hans, mein husband.” 

“I think you’re a poor prophet, Mr. Onderdonk,” 
said Dalton. “We recognize, however, the fact that 
we can’t get any information out of you. But we 
ask one thing of you.” 

“Vat iss dot?” 

“Please to remember that while we two are rebels, 
as you call them, we neither burn nor kill. We have 
offered you no rudeness whatever, and the Army of 
Northern Virginia is composed of men of the same 
kind.” 

“I vill remember it,” said Onderdonk gravely, and 
as they saluted him politely, he returned the salute. 

“Not a bad fellow, I fancy,” said Harry, as they 
rode away. 

“No, but our stubborn enemy, all the same. Wher- 
ever our battle is fought we’ll find a lot of these Penn- 
sylvania Dutchmen standing up to us to the last.” 

Harry and Dalton rejoined the staff, bringing with 
them no information of value, and they marched 
slowly on another day, camping in the cool of the 
evening, both armies now being lost to the anxious 
world that waited and sought to find them. 

Lee himself, as Harry gathered from the talk about 
him, was uncertain. He did not wish a battle now, 
but his advance toward the Susquehanna had been 
' stopped by the news that the Army of the Potomac 
could cut in behind. The corps of Ewell had been 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


recalled, and Harry, as he rode to it with a message 
from his general, saw his old friends again. They 
were in a tiny village, the name of which he forgot, 
and Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, 
sitting in the main room of what was used as a tavern 
in times of peace, had resumed the game of chess, 
interrupted so often. Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire 
was in great glee, just having captured a pawn, and 
Colonel Talbot was eager and sure of revenge, when 
Harry entered and stated that he had delivered an 
order to General Ewell to fall back yet farther. 

‘‘Most untimely ! Most untimely !” exclaimed Colo- 
nel Talbot, as they rapidly put away the board and 
chessmen. “I was just going to drive Hector into a 
bad corner, when you came and interrupted us.’’ 

“You are my superior officer, Leonidas,” said Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, “but remember that 
this superiority applies only to military rank. I 
assert now, with all respect to your feelings, that in 
regard to chess it does not exist, never has and never 
will.” 

“Opinions, Hector, are — opinions. Time alone de- 
cides whether they are or are not facts. But our 
corps is to fall back, you say, Harry? What does it 
signify ?” 

“I think. Colonel, that it means a great battle very 
soon. It is apparent that General Lee thinks so, or 
he would not be concentrating his troops so swiftly. 
The Army of the Potomac is somewhere on our flank, 
and we shall have to deal with it.” 

“So be it. The Invincibles are few but ready.” 


312 


THE CAVALRY COMBAT 


Harry rode rapidly back to Lee with the return 
message from Ewell, and found him going into camp 
on the eve of the last day of June. The weather was 
hot and scarcely any tents were set, nearly everybody 
preferring the open air. Harry delivered his message, 
and General Lee said to him, with his characteristic 
kindness : 

‘‘You’d better go to sleep as soon as you can, be- 
cause I shall want you to go on another errand in the 
morning to a place called Gettysburg.” 

Gettysburg! Gettysburg! He had never heard the 
name before and it had absolutely no significance to 
him now. But he saluted, withdrew, procured his 
blankets and joined Dalton. 

“The General tells me, George, that Fm to go to 
Gettysburg,” he said. “What’s Gettysburg, and why 
does he want me to go there?” 

“Fm to be with you, Harry, and we’re both going 
with a flying column, in order that we may report 
upon its conduct and achievements. So Fve made 
inquiries. It’s a small town surrounded by hills, but 
it’s a great center for roads. We’re going there be- 
cause it’s got a big shoe factory. Our role is to be 
that of shoe buyers. Harry, stick out your feet at 
once !” 

Harry thrust them forward. 

“One sole worn through. The heel gone from the 
other shoe, and even then you’re better off than most 
of us. Lots of the privates are barefooted. So you 
needn’t think that the role of shoe buyer is an igno- 
minious one.” 


313 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘I’ll be ready,” said Harry. “Call me early in the 
morning, George. We’re a long way from home, 
and the woods are not full of friends. Getting up 
here in these Pennsylvania hills, one has to look pretty 
hard to look away down South in Dixie.” 

“That’s so, Harry. A good sleep to you, and to- 
morrow, as shoe buyers, we’ll ride together to Get- 
tysburg.” 

He lay between his blankets, went quickly to sleep 
and dreamed nothing of Gettysburg, of which he had 
heard for the first time that day. 


CHAPTER XII 


THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 

T he sun of the first day of July, which was 
to witness the beginning of the most tre- 
mendous event in the history of America, 
dawned hot and clouded with vapors. They hung in 
the valleys, over the steep stony hills and along the 
long blue slopes of South Mountain. The mists made 
the country look more fantastic to Harry, who was 
early in the saddle. The great uplifts and projections 
of stone assumed the shapes of castles and pyramids 
and churches. 

Over South Mountain, on the west, heavy black 
clouds floated, and the air was close and oppressive. 
‘‘Rain, do you think?’’ said Harry to Dalton. 

“No, just a sultry day. Maybe a wind will spring 
up and drive away all these clouds and vapors. At 
least, I hope so. There’s the bugle. We’re off on 
our shoe campaign.” 

“Who leads us?” 

“We go with Pettigrew, and Heth comes behind. 
In a country so thick with enemies it’s best to move 
only in force.” 


315 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


The column took up its march and a cloud of dust 
followed it. The second half of June had been rainy, 
but there had been several days of dry weather now, 
allowing the dust to gather. Harry and Dalton soon 
became very hot and thirsty. The sun did not drive 
away the vapors as soon as they had expected, and 
the air grew heavier. 

‘T hope they’ll have plenty of good drinking water 
in Gettysburg,” said Harry. *Tt will be nearly as 
welcome to me as shoes.” 

They rode on over hills and valleys, and brooks 
and creeks, the names of none of which they knew. 
They stopped to drink at the streams, and the thirsty 
horses drank also. But it remained hard for the infan- 
try. They were trained campaigners, however, and 
they did not complain as they toiled forward through 
the heat and dust. 

They came presently to round hillocks, over which 
they passed, then they saw a fertile valley, watered 
by a creek, and beyond that the roofs of a town with 
orchards behind it. 

“Gettysburg!” said Dalton. 

“It must be the place,” said Harry. “Picturesque, 
isn’t it? Look at those twO' hills across there, rising 
so steeply.” 

One of the hills, the one that lay farther to the 
south, a mass of apparently inaccessible rocks, rose 
more than two hundred feet above the town. The 
other, about a third of a mile from the first, was only 
half its height. They were Round Top and Little 
Round Top. In the mists and vapors and at the dis- 

316 


THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 


tance the two hills looked like ancient towers. Harry 
and George gazed at them, and then their eyes turned 
to the town. 

It was a neat little place, with many roads radiat- 
ing from it as if it were the hub of a wheel, and the 
thrifty farmers of that region had made it a center 
for their schools. 

Harry had learned from Jackson, and again from 
I Lee, always to note well the ground wherever he 
I might ride. Such knowledge in battle was invaluable, 

I and his eyes dwelled long on Gettysburg. 

He saw running south of the town a long high 
ridge, curving at the east and crowned with a ceme- 
tery, because of which the people of Gettysburg called 
it Cemetery Ridge or Hill. Opposed to it, some dis- 
tance away and running westward, was another but 
lower ridge that they called Seminary Ridge. Beyond 
Seminary Ridge were other and yet lower ridge*s, be- 
. tween two of which flowed a brook called Willoughby 
! Run. Beyond them all, two or three miles away and 
I hemming in the valley, stretched South Mountain, the 
! crests of which were still clothed in the mists and 
. vapors of a sultry day. Near the town was a great 
field of ripening wheat, golden when the sun shone. 

‘ Not far from the horsemen was another little stream 
I called Plum Run. They also saw an unfinished rail- 
: road track, with a turnpike running beside it, the roof 
and cupola of a seminary, and beside the little marshy 
I stream of Plum Run a mass of jagged, uplifted rocks, 
commonly called the Devil’s Den. 

Harry knew none of these names yet, but he was 


317 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


destined to learn them in such a manner that he could 
never forget them again. Now he merely admired 
the peaceful and picturesque appearance of the town, 
set so snugly among its hills. 

“That’s Gettysburg, which for us just at this mo- 
ment is the shoe metropolis of the world,” said Dal- 
ton, “but I dare say we’ll not be welcomed as pur- 
chasers or in any other capacity.” 

“You take a safe risk, George,” said Harry. “Tales 
that we are terrible persons, who rejoice most in arson 
and murder, evidently have been spread pretty thor- 
oughly through this region.” 

“Both sections scatter such stories. I suppose it’s 
done in every war. It’s only human nature.” 

“All right, Mr. Pedantic Philosopher. Maybe 
you’re telling the truth. But look, I don’t think we’re 
going into Gettysburg in such a great hurry ! Yankee 
soldiers are there before us!” 

Other Southern officers had noted the blue uniforms 
and the flash of rifle barrels and bayonets in Gettys- 
burg. As they used their glasses, the town came much 
nearer and the Union forces around it increased. 
Buford, coming up the night before, had surmised 
that a Southern force would advance on Gettysburg, 
and he had chosen the place for a battle. He had 
with him four thousand two hundred mounted men, 
and he posted them in the strong positions that were 
so numerous. He had waited there all night, and 
already his scouts had informed him that Pettigrew 
and Heth were advancing. 

“Are we to lose our shoes?” whispered Harry. 


THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 


“I don’t think so,” replied Dalton in an undertone. 
i “We’re in strong force, and I don’t see any signs 
i that our generals intend to turn back. Harry, your 
i glasses are much stronger than mine. What do you 
'see?” 

■ “I see a lot. The Yankees must be four or five 
thousand, and they are posted strongly. They are 
thick in the railroad cut and hundreds of horses are 
held by men in the rear. It must be almost wholly a 
. cavalry force.” 

^ “Do you see any people in the town?” 

' “There is not a soul in the streets, and as far as I 
I can make out all the doors are closed and the windows 
I shuttered.” 

“Then it’s a heavy force waiting for us. The peo- 
: pie know it, and expecting a battle, they have gone 
away.” 

“Your reasoning is good, and there’s the bugle to 
s; confirm it. Our lines are already advancing !” 

It was still early in the morning, and the strong 
I Southern force which had come for shoes, but which 
; found rifles and bayonets awaiting them instead, ad- 
t vanced boldly. They, the victors of Fredericksburg 
r and Chancellorsville, had no thought of retreating 
before a foe who invited them to combat. 

Harry and Dalton found their hearts beating hard 
at this their first battle on Northern soil, and Harry’s 
eyes once more swept the great panorama of the val- 
ley, the silent town, the lofty stone hills, and far 
beyond the long blue wall of South Mountain, with 
the mists and vapors still floating about its crest. 


319 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Heth was up now, and he took full command, send- 
ing two brigades in advance, the brigades themselves 
preceded by a great swarm of skirmishers. Harry 
and Dalton rode with one of the brigades, and they 
closely followed those who went down the right bank 
of the stream called Willoughby Run, opening a rapid 
fire as they advanced upon a vigilant enemy who had 
been posted the night before in protected positions. 

Buford’s men met the attack with, courage and 
vigor. Four thousand dismounted cavalry, all armed 
with carbines, sent tremendous volleys from the shel- 
ter of ridges and earthworks. - The fire was' so heavy 
that the Southern skirmishers could not. stand before 
it, and they, too, began to seek shelter. The whole 
Southern column halted for a few minutes, but recov- 
ered itself and advanced again. 

The battle blazed up with a suddenness and vio- 
lence that astonished Harry. The air was filled in 
an instant with the whistling of shells and bullets. 
He heard many cries. Men were falling all around 
him, but so far he and Dalton were untouched. Heth, 
Davis, Archer and the others were pushing on their 
troops, shouting encouragement to them, and occa- 
sionally, through the clouds of smoke, which were 
thickening fast, Harry saw the tanned faces of their 
enemies loading and firing as fast as they could handle 
rifle and cannon. The Northern men had shelter, but 
were fewer in number. The soldiers in gray were 
suffering the heavier losses, but they continued to 
advance. 

The battle swelled in volume and fierceness along 
320 


THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 

the banks of Willoughby Run. There was a continu- 
ous roar of rifles and cannon, and the still, heavy 
air of the morning conducted the sound to the divi- 
sions that were coming up and to the trembling in- 
habitants of the little town who had fled for refuge to 
the farmhouses in the valley. 

Harry and George had still managed to keep close 
I together. Both had been grazed by bullets, but these 
were only trifles. They saw that the division was not 
making much progress. The men in blue were hold- 
; ing their ground with extraordinary stubbornness. 
Although the Southern fire, coming closer, had grown 
much more deadly, they refused to yield. 

Buford, who had chosen that battlefield and who 
I was the first to command upon it, would not let his 
: men give way. His great hour had come, and he may 
’ have known it. Watching through his glasses he had 
seen long lines of Southern troops upon the hills, 
marching toward Gettysburg. He knew that they 
were the corps of Hill, drawn by the thunder of the 
battle, and he felt that if he could hold his ground 
. yet a while longer help for him too would come, 
drawn in the same manner. 

Harry once caught sight of this officer, ^ native of 
Kentucky like himself. He was covered with dust 
and perspiration, but he ran up and down, encourag- 
;ing his men and often aiming the cannon himself. It 
was good fortune for the North that he was there 
that day. The Southern generals, uncertain whether 
to push the battle hard or wait for Lee, recoiled a 
little before his tremendous resistance. 


321 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


But the South hesitated only for a moment. Hill, 
pale from an illness, but always full of fire and reso- 
lution, was hurrying forward his massive columns, 
their eagerness growing as the sound of the battle 
swelled. They would overwhelm the Union force, 
sweep it away. 

Yet the time gained by Buford had a value be- 
yond all measurements. The crash of the battle 
had been heard by Union troops, too, and Reynolds, 
one of the ablest Union generals, was leading a great 
column at the utmost speed to the relief of the gen- 
eral who had held his ground so well. A sig- 
nalman stationed in the belfry of the seminary 
reported to Buford the advance of Reynolds, and 
the officer, eager to verify it, rushed up into the 
belfry. 

Then Buford saw the columns coming forward at 
the double quick, Reynolds in his eagerness galloping 
at their head, and leaving them behind. He looked 
in the other direction and he saw the men of Hill 
advancing with equal speed. He saw on one road 
the Stars and Stripes and on the other the Stars and 
Bars. He rushed back down the steps and met 
Reynolds. 

'The devil is to pay!” he cried to Reynolds. 

"How do we stand?” 

"We can hold on until the arrival of the First 
Corps.” 

Buford sprang on his horse, and the two generals, 
reckless of death, galloped among the men, encourag- 
ing the faint-hearted, reforming the lines, and crying 


322 


THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 


to them to hold fast, that the whole Army of the 
Potomac was coming. 

Harry felt the hardening of resistance. The smoke 
was so dense that he could not see for a while the 
fresh troops coming to the help of Buford, but he 
knew nevertheless that they were there. Then he 
heard a great shouting behind him, as Hill’s men, 
coming upon the field, rushed into action. But Jack- 
son, the great Jackson whom he had followed through 
all his victories, the man who saw and understood 
everything, was not there! 

The genius of battle was for the moment on the 
other side. Reynolds, so ably pushing the work that 
Buford had done, was seizing the best positions for 
his men. He was acting with rapidity and precision, 
and the troops under him felt that a great commander 
was showing them the way. His vigor secured the 
slopes and crest of Cemetery Hill, but the Southern 
masses nevertheless were pouring forward in full tide. 

The combat had now lasted about two hours, and, a 
stray gust of wind lifting the smoke a little, Harry 
caught a glimpse of a vast blazing amphitheater of 
battle. He had regarded it at first as an affair of 
vanguards, but now he realized suddenly that this 
was the great battle they had been expecting. Within 
this valley and on these ridges and hills it would be 
fought, and even as the thought came to him the 
conflict seemed to redouble in fury and violence, as 
fresh brigades rushed into the thick of it. 

Harry’s horse was killed by a shell as he rode 
toward a wood on the Cashtown road, which both 


323 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


sides were making a desperate effort to secure. For- 
tunately he was able to leap clear and escape unhurt. 
In a few moments Dalton w^as dismounted in almost 
the same manner, but the twO' on foot kept at the 
head of the column and rushed with the skirmishers 
into the bushes. There they knelt, and began to fire 
rapidly on the Union men who were advancing to 
drive them out. 

Harry saw an officer in a general’s uniform leading 
the charge. The bullets of the skirmishers rained 
upon the advance. One struck this general in the 
head, when he was within twenty yards of the rifle- 
men, and he fell stone dead. It was the gallant and 
humane Reynolds, falling in the hour of his greatest 
service. But his troops, wild with ardor and excite- 
ment, not noticing his death, still rushed upon the 
wood. 

The charge came with such violence and in such 
numbers that the Southern skirmishers and infantry 
in the wood were overpowered. They were driven in 
a mass across Willoughby Run. A thousand. General 
Archer among them, were taken prisoners. 

Harry and Dalton barely escaped, and in all the 
tumult and fury of the fighting they found them- 
selves with another division of the Southern army 
which was resisting a charge made with the same 
energy and courage that marked the one led by Rey- 
nolds. But the charge was beaten back, and the 
Southerners, following, were repulsed in their turn. 

The battle, which had been raging for three hours 
with the most extraordinary fury, sank a little. 


324 


THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 


Harry and Dalton could make nothing of it. Every- 
thing seemed wild, confused, without precision or pur- 
: pose, but the fighting had beenhard and the losses great. 

Heth now commanded on the field for the South 
! and Doubleday for the North. Each general began 
to rectify his lines and try to see what had happened. 
The Confederate batteries opened, but did not do 
much damage, and while the lull continued, more men 
; came for the North. 

: Harry and Dalton had found their way to Heth, 

: who told them to stay with him until Lee came. Heth 
I was making ready to charge a brigade of stalwart 
Pennsylvania lumbermen, who, however, managed to 
hold their position, although they were nearly cut to 
pieces. Hill now passed along the Southern line, 

: and like the other Southern leaders, uncertain what 
to do in this battle brought on so strangely and sud- 
denly, ceased t1^ push the Union lines with infantry, 

; but opened a tremendous fire from eighty guns. The 
; whole valley echoed with the crash of the cannon, and 
the vast clouds of smoke began to gather again. The 
i Union forces suffered heavy losses, but still held their 
ground. 

Harry thought, while this comparative lull in close 
fighting was going on, that Dalton and he should get 
back to General Lee with news of what was occur- 
; ring, although he had no doubt the commander-in- 
: chief was now advancing as fast as he could with 
[ the full strength of the army. Still, duty was duty. 

^ They had been sent forward that they might carry 
t back reports, and they must carry them. 


325 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘'It’s time for us to go,” he said to Dalton. 

‘'I was just about to say that myself.” 

"We can safely report to the general that the van- 
guards have met at Gettysburg and that there are 
signs of a battle.” 

Dalton took a long, comprehensive look over the 
valley in which thirty or forty thousand men were 
merely drawing a fresh breath before plunging anew 
into the struggle, and said: 

"Yes, Harry, all the signs do point that way. I 
think we can be sure of our news.” 

They had not been able to catch any of the rider- 
less horses galloping about the field, and they started 
on foot, taking the road which they knew would lead 
them to Lee. They emerged from some bushes in 
which they had been lying for shelter, and two or 
three bullets whistled between them. Others knocked 
up the dust in the path and a shell shrieked a terrible 
warning over their heads. They dived back into the 
bushes. 

"Didn’t you see that sign out there in the road?” 
asked Harry. 

"Sign! Sign! I saw no sign,” said Dalton. 

"I did. It was a big sign, and it read, in big letters : 
‘No Thoroughfare.’ ” 

"You must be right. I suppose I didn’t notice it, 
because I came back in such a hurry.” 

They had become so hardened to the dangers of 
war that, like thousands of others, they could jest in 
the face of death. 

"We must make another try for it,” said Dalton. 

326 


I THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 

* We’ve got to cross that road. I imagine our greatest 
danger is from sharpshooters at the head of it.” 

“Stoop low and make a dash. Here goes!” 

Bent almost double, they made a hop, skip and 
jump and were in the bushes on the other side, where 
they lay still for a few moments, panting, while the 
hair on their heads, which had risen up, lay down 
again. Quick as had been their passage, fully a 
dozen ferocious bullets whined over their heads. 

“I hate skirmishers,” said Harry. “It’s one thing 
to fire at the mass of the enemy, and it’s another to 
pick out a man and draw a bead on him.” 

“I hate ’em, too, especially when they’re firing at 
me !” said Dalton. “But, Harry, we’re doing no good 
lying here in the bushes, trying to press ourselves 
into the earth so the bullets will pass pver our heads. 
Heavens! What was that?” 

“Only the biggest shell that was ever made burst- 
* ing near us. You know those Yankee artillerymen 
; were always good, but I think they’ve improved since 
they first saw us trying to cross the road.” 

“To think of an entire army turning away from 
■ its business to shoot at two fellows like ourselves, who 
ask nothing but to get away!” 

I “And it’s time we were going. The bushes rise 
i over our heads here. We must make another 
I dash.” 

f They rose and ran on, but to their alarm the bushes 
I soon ended and they emerged into a field. Here they 
i came directly into the line of fire again, and the bul- 
j lets sang and whistled around them. Once more they 


327 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


read in invisible but significant letters the sign, 
''No Thoroughfare,” and darted back into the wood 
from which they had just come, while shells, not 
aimed at them, but at the armies, shrieked over their 
heads. 

"It’s not the plan of fate that we should reach 
General Lee just yet,” said Harry. 

"The shells and bullets say it isn’t. What do you 
think we ought to do?” 

Harry rose up cautiously and began to survey their 
position. Then he uttered a cry of joy. 

"More of our men are coming,” he exclaimed, 
"and they are coming in heavy columns ! I see their 
gray jackets and their tanned faces, and there, too, 
are the Invincibles. Look, you can see the two colo- 
nels, riding side by side, and just behind them are St. 
Clair and Langdon!” 

Dalton’s eyes followed Harry’s pointing finger, and 
he saw. It was a joyous sight, the masses of their 
own infantry coming down the road in perfect order, 
and their own personal friends not two hundred yards 
away. But the Northern artillerymen had seen them 
too, and they began to send up' the road a heavy fire 
which made many fall. Ewell’s men came on, un- 
flinching, until they unlimbered their own guns and 
began to reply with fierce and rapid volleys. 

The two youths sprang from the brush and rushed 
directly into the gray ranks of the Invincibles before 
they could be fired upon by mistake as enemies. The 
two colonels had dismounted, but they recognized the 
fugitives instantly and welcomed them. 

328 


THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 


'‘Why this hurry, Lieutenant Kenton ?” said Colonel 
Talbot politely. 

‘‘We were trying to reach General Lee, and not 
being able to do so, we are anxious to greet friends.” 

“So it would seem. I do not recall another such 
swift and warm greeting.” 

“But we’re glad, Leonidas, that they’ve found 
refuge with us,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. 
Hilaire. 

“So we are. Hector. Down there, lads, for your 
lives !” 

The colonel had seen a movement in the hostile 
artillery, and at his sharp command all of the Invin- 
cibles and the two lads threw themselves on their 
faces, not a moment too soon, as a hideous mass of 
grape and canister flew over their heads. The In- 
vincibles, rising to their feet, sent a return volley from 
their rifles, and then, at the command of a general, 
fell back behind their own cannon. 

The Northern artillery in front was shifted, evi- 
dently to protect some weaker position of their line, 
but the Southern troops in the road did not advance 
farther at present, awaiting the report of scouts who 
were quickly sent ahead. 

“You’re welcome to our command,” said Langdon, 
“but I notice that you come on foot and in a hurry. 
We’re glad to protect offlcers on the staff of the com- 
mander-in-chief, whenever they appeal to us.” 

“Even when they come running like scared colts,” 
said St. Clair. “Why, Happy, I saw both of ’em jump 
clean over bushes ten feet high.” 


329 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


‘‘You’d have jumped over trees a hundred feet high 
if a hundred thousand Yankees were shooting at you 
as they were shooting at us,” rejoined Harry. 

“What place is this in the valley, Harry?” asked 
Colonel Talbot. 

“It’s called Gettysburg, sir. We heard that it was 
full of shoes. We went there this morning to get 
’em, but we found instead that it was full of Yankees.” 

“And they know how to shoot, too,” said Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel St. Hilaire. “We heard all the thunder 
of a great battle as we came up.” 

“You haven’t come too soon, sir,” said Dalton. 
“The Yankees are fighting like fiends, and we’ve made 
very little headway against ’em. Besides, sir, fresh 
men are continually coming up for ’em.” 

“And fresh men have now come for our side, too,” 
said Colonel Leonidas Talbot proudly. “I fancy that 
a division of Jackson’s old corps will have a good deal 
to say about the result.” 

“What part of the corps, sir, is this?” asked Harry. 

“Rodes’ division. General Ewell himself has not 
yet arrived, but you may be sure he is making the 
utmost haste with the rest of the division.” 

Rodes, full of eagerness, now pushed his troops for- 
ward. Hill, who saw his coming with unmeasured 
joy, shifted his men until they were fully in touch 
with those of Rodes, the whole now forming a great 
curving line of battle frowning with guns, the troops 
burning for a new attack. 

Harry looked up at the sun, which long ago had 
pierced the mists and vapors, but not the smoke. He 


330 


THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 


saw to his surprise that it had reached and passed 
the zenith. It must now be at least two o’clock in the 
! afternoon. He was about to look at his watch when 
! the Southern trumpets at that moment sounded the 
I charge, and, knowing no other way to go, he and 
Dalton fell in with the Invincibles. 

Howard was in command of the Northern army at 
this time, and from a roof of a house in Gettysburg 
he had been watching the Southern advance. He and 
Doubleday, gathered all their strength to meet it, and, 

I despite the new troops brought by Rodes, Hill was 
unable to drive them back. Harry felt, as he had 
felt all along, that marked hardening of the Northern 
resistance. 

i The battle wavered. Sometimes the North was 
;; driven back and sometimes it was the South, until 
Hill at last, massing a great number of men on his 
left, charged with renewed courage and vigor. The 
Union men could not withstand their weight, and 
their flank was rolled up. Then Gordon and his 
Georgians marched into the willows that lined Rock 
Creek, forded the stream and entered the field of 
wheat beyond. 

Harry saw this famous charge, and during a pause 
of the Invincibles he watched it. The Georgians, 
although the cannon and rifles were now turned 
upon them, marched in perfect order, trampling down 
the yellow wheat which stood thick and tall before 
; them. The sun glittered on their long lines of 
f bayonets. Many men fell, but the ranks closed up and 
: marched unflinchingly on. Then, as they came near 


331 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


their foe, they fired their own rifles and rushed 
forward. 

The men in blue were taken in the flank at the same 
time by Tubal Early, and two more brigades also 
rushed upon them. It was the same Union corps, 
the Eleventh, that had suffered so terribly at Chancel- 
lorsville under the hammer strokes of Jackson, and 
now it was routed again. It practically dissolved for 
the time under the overwhelming rush on front and 
flank and became a mass of fugitives. 

Harry heard for the first time that day the long, 
thrilling rebel yell of triumph, and both Howard and 
Doubleday, watching the battle intently, had become 
alarmed for their force. Howard was already send- 
ing messages to Meade, telling him that the great 
battle had begun and begging him to hurry with the 
whole army. Doubleday, seeing one flank crushed, 
was endeavoring to draw back the other, lest it be 
destroyed in its turn. 

Harry and Dalton and all the Invincibles felt the 
thrill of triumph shooting through them. They were 
advancing at last, making the first real progress of 
the day. 

Harry felt that the days of Jackson had come back. 
This was the way in which they had always driven 
the foe. Ewell himself was now Upon the field. The 
loss of a leg had not diminished his ardor a whit. 
Everywhere his troops were driving the enemy before 
them, increasing the dismay which now prevailed in 
the ranks of men who had fought so well. 

Harry began to shout with the rest, as the Southern 


332 


THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 


torrent, irresistible now, flowed toward Gettysburg, 
while Ewell and Hill led their men. The town was 
j filled with the retreating Union troops and the cannon 
j and rifles thundered incessantly in the rear, driving 
j them on. The whole Southern curve was triumphant. 

Ewell’s men entered the town after the fugitives, 
j driving all before them, and leaving Gettysburg in 
I Southern hands. 

! But the Northern army was not a mob. The men 
I recovered their spirit and reformed rapidly. Many 
I brave and gallant officers encouraged them and a re- 
i serve had already thrown up strong entrenchments 
beyond the town on Cemetery Hill, to which they 
retreated and once more faced their enemy. 

Harry and Dalton stopped at Gettysburg, seeing the 
battle of the vanguards won, and turned back. Their 
place was with the general to the staff of whom they 
belonged, and they believed they would not have to 
look far. With a battle that had lasted eight hours 
Lee would surely be upon the field by this time, or 
very near it. 

There were plenty of riderless horses, and captur- 
ing two, one of which had belonged to a Union officer, 
they went back in search of their commander. It 
was a terrible field over which they passed, strewed 
with human wreckage, smoke and dust still floated over 
everything. They inquired as they advanced of offi- 
cers who were just arriving upon the field, and one 
of them, pointing, said : 

‘There is General Lee.” 

Harry and Dalton saw him sitting on his horse on 


333 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Seminary Ridge, his figure immovable, his eyes watch- 
ing the Union brigades as they retreated up the slopes 
of the opposite hill. It was about four o’clock in the 
afternoon and the sunlight was brilliant. The com- 
mander and his horse stood out like a statue on the 
hill, magnified in the blazing beams. 

Harry and his comrade paused to look at him a 
few moments. Their spirits had risen when they saw 
him. They felt that since Lee had come all things 
were possible and when the whole of the two armies 
met in battle the victory would surely be theirs. 

The two rode quietly into the group of staff officers 
gathered at a little distance behind Lee. They knew 
that it was not necessary now to make any report or 
explanation. Events reported for themselves and ex- 
plained everything also. Their comrades greeted them 
with nods, but Harry never ceased to watch Lee. 

The commander-in-chief in his turn was gazing at 
the panorama of battle, spread almost at his feet. 
Although the combat was dying, enough was left to 
give it a terrible aspect. The strife still went on in 
a part of Gettysburg and cannon were thudding and 
rifles cracking. The flames from houses set on fire 
by the shells streamed aloft like vast torches. Horses 
that had lost their riders galloped aimlessly, wild with 
terror. 

While he looked. General Hill rode up and joined 
them. Hill had been ill that day. His face was 
deadly in its pallor, and he swayed in his saddle 
from weakness. But his spirit and courage were high. 
Harry saw the two generals talking together, and 


334 


THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 


again he glanced at the valley. After long and des- 
perate fighting the Southern victory had been com- 
plete. Any young lieutenant could see that. The 
whole Northern force was now being driven in great 
disorder upon Cemetery Hill, and a man like Jackson, 
without going to see Lee, would have hurled his whole 
force instantly upon those flying masses. Some one 
had called Ewell and Hill, brave and able as they 
were, small change for Jackson, and the phrase often 
came to Harry’s mind. Still, it was not possible to 
find any man or any two men who could fill the place 
of the great Stonewall. 

The day was far from over. At least three hours 
of sunlight were left. More Southern troops had 
come up, and Harry expected to see Lee launch his 
superior numbers against the defeated enemy. But 
he did not. There was some pursuit, but it was not 
pressed with vigor, and the victors stopped. Con- 
tradictory orders were given, it was claimed later, by 
the generals, but Lee, with the grandeur of soul that 
places him so high among the immortals, said after- 
ward : 

“The attack was not pressed that afternoon, because 
the enemy’s force was unknown, and it was considered 
advisable to await the rest of our troops.” 

When failure occurred he never blamed anyone but 
himself. Yet Harry always thought that his genius 
paled a little that afternoon. He did not show the 
amazing vigor and penetration that were associated 
with the name of Lee both before and afterwards. Per- 
haps it was an excess of caution, due to his isolated 


335 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


position in the enemy’s country, and perhaps it was 
the loss of Jackson. Whatever it was, the precious 
hours passed, the enemy, small in numbers, was not 
driven from his refuge on Cemetery Hill, and the 
battle died. 

The Southern leaders themselves did not know the 
smallness of the Northern force that had taken shelter 
on the hill. That hardening of the resistance which 
Harry had felt more than once had been exemplified 
to the full that deadly morning. Buford and Rey- 
nolds had shown the penetration and resolution of 
Jackson himself, and their troops had supported them 
with a courage and tenacity never surpassed in battle. 
Only sixteen or seventeen thousand in number, they 
had left ten thousand killed and wounded around the 
town, but with only one- third of their numbers unhurt 
they rallied anew on Cemetery Hill and once more 
turned defiant faces toward the enemy. 

Hancock, whose greatest day also was at hand, had 
arrived, sent forward in haste by Meade. Unsur- 
passed as a corps commander, and seeing the advan- 
tage of the position, he went among the beaten but 
willing remnants, telling them to hold on, as Meade 
and the whole Army of the Potomac were coming at 
full speed, and would be there to meet Lee and the 
South in the morning. 

Both commanding generals felt that the great battle 
was to be fought to a finish there. Meade had not 
yet arrived, but he was hurrying forward all the 
divisions, ready to concentrate them upon Cemetery 
Hill. Lee also was bringing up all his troops, save 

336 


THE ZENITH OF THE SOUTH 


the cavalry of Stuart, now riding on the raid around 
the Northern army, and absent when they were needed 
most. 

Harry did not know for many days that this fierce 
first day and the gathering of the foes on Gettysburg 
was wholly unknown to both North and South. The 
two armies had passed out of sight under the horizon’s 
rim, and the greatest battle of the war was to be fought 
unknown, until its close, to the rival sections. 

Harry and Dalton, keeping close together, because 
they were comrades and because they felt the need of 
companionship, watched from their own hill the town 
and the hill beyond. Harry felt no joy. The victory 
was not yet to him a victory. He knew that the field 
below, terrible to the sight, was destined to become 
far more terrible, and the coming twilight was full 
of omens and presages. 

The sun sank at last upon the scene of human strife 
and suffering, but night brought with it little rest, 
because all through the darkness the brigades and 
regiments were marching toward the fatal field. 


CHAPTER XIII 


GETTYSBURG 

H arry took many messages that night, and 
he witnessed the gathering of the generals 
about Lee. He saw Ewell come, hobbling 
on his crutches, eager for battle and disappointed that 
they had not pushed the victory. Hill returned again, 
refusing to yield to his illness. And there was Long- 
street, thick-bearded, the best fighter that Lee had 
since the death of Jackson; McLaws, Hood, Heth, 
Pender, Jubal Early, Anderson and others, veterans 
of many battles, great and small. 

They talked long and earnestly and pointed many 
times to the battlefield and the opposing heights. 
While they talked, a man appeared among the men 
in blue on Cemetery Hill, accompanied only by a 
staff officer and an orderly. He had ridden a long 
distance, and naturally lean and haggard, these traits 
in his appearance were exaggerated by weariness and 
anxiety. He looked as little like a great general as 
Jackson had looked in those days before he had sprung 
into fame. 

His military hat was black and broad of brim, and 
338 


GETTYSBURG 


the brim, having become limp, drooped down over his 
I face. There were spectacles on his nose, and it is 
said of him that he could have been taken more easily 
for a teacher than for a commander-in-chief. Thus 
i Meade came to his army in the decisive moment of 
his country’s life. He inspired neither enthusiasm 
I nor discouragement. He looked upon those left from 
i; the battle and upon the brigades which had come 
' since, thousands of men already sound asleep among 
: the white stones of the churchyard. Then he turned 
in a calm and businesslike manner to the task of ar- 
ranging a stern front for the storm which he knew 
would burst upon them to-morrow. The respect of 
his officers for him increased. 

Lee’s generals went to their respective commands. 

; Harry once more took orders, and, as he carried 
i messages or brought them back, he never failed to 
^ see all that he could. The great corps of Ewell was 
1 drawn up on the battlefield of the day. Hill’s forces 

• extended to Willoughby Run, and the Southern line 

* was complete along the whole curve. They also had 
! the welcome news that Stuart at Carlisle had heard 

of the battle and would be present with the cavalry on 
I the morrow. 

Harry, riding about in the darkness, recovered 
much of his spirits. The whole Southern army would 
I be present in the morning, and while Jackson was 
I dead, his spirit might ride again at their head. Now 
he aw^aited the dawn with confidence, believing that 
Lee would win another great victory. 

\ Harry was sent on his last errand far after mid- 


339 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


night, and it took him to one of Ewell’s divisions, in 
the edge of Gettysburg. It was a clear night, with 
a bright summer sky, a good moon and the stars in 
their myriads twinkling peacefully over the panorama 
of human passion and death. But they seemed very 
far away and cold to the boy, who was chilled by the 
night and the impending sense of mighty conflict. In 
Virginia they were fighting against the invader and 
in defense of their own soil. Now they were the 
invader, and it was the men in blue who defended. 

As he passed over that battlefield, on which the dead 
and the badly hurt yet lay, his heart was dissolved 
for the time in sadness. The dead were thick all 
around him, and there were many hurt seriously who 
were so still that he did not know whether they were 
alive or not. He heard very few groans. He noticed 
often on the battlefields that the hurt usually shut 
their teeth together and endured in silence. As he 
approached one of the little streams, a form twisted 
itself suddenly from his path, and a weak voice ex- 
claimed : 

‘Tor God’s sake don’t step on me!” 

Harry looked down. It was a boy with yellow 
hair, younger than himself. He could not have been 
over sixteen, but he wore a blue uniform and a bullet 
had gone through his shoulder. Harry had a power- 
ful sensation of pity. 

“I would not have stepped on you,” he said. His 
duty urged him on, but his feelings would not let him 
go, and he added: 

“I’ll help you.” 


340 


GETTYSBURG 


j He lifted the lad, rapidly cut away his coat, and 
I slicing it into strips, bound up tightly the two wounds 
, in his shoulder where the bullet had gone in and 
, where it had come out. 

, “You’ve lost a lot of blood,” he said, “but you’ve 
I got enough left to live on until you gather another sup- 
ply, and you won’t lose any more now.” 

“Thank you,” murmured the boy; “but you’re very 
good for — for a rebel.” 

Harry laughed. 

“Why, you innocent child!” he said. “Have they 
been filling your head with tales, of our ferocity and 
cruelty?” 

He went down to the stream, dipped up water in 
his cap, and brought it back to the boy, who drank 
' eagerly. Then he placed him in a more comfortable 
position on the turf, and patting his head, said: 

“You’ll get well sure, and maybe you and I will 
meet after the war and be friends.” 

All of which came true. Its like happened often 
in this war. But he went out of Harry’s mind, as he 
walked on and delivered his message in the edge 
of Gettysburg. He could not return before seeking 
: the Invincibles, who were surely here in the van- 
[ guard — if they were yet alive. Harry shuddered. 

- All his friends might have perished in that whirlwind 
of death. He soon learned that they had suffered 
greatly, but that those who were left were lying on 
: the grass of what had been a lawn. 

' He found the lawn quickly and saw dark figures 
c strewed about upon the ground. They were so still 


341 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


and silent that they looked like the dead,, but Harry 
knew that it was the stupor of exhaustion. As they 
were inside the lines and needing no watch, there was 
no sentinel. 

Harry stepped over the low fence and looked again 
at the figures. The moonlight silvered them and they 
did not stir. He could not see a single form move. 
It was weird, uncanny, and the blood chilled in his 
veins. But he shook himself violently, angry at his 
weakness, and walked among them, looking for the 
two colonels and the two lieutenants. A figure sud- 
denly sat up before him and a dignified voice said: 

‘‘Your footstep awakened me, Harry, and if there 
is a message, I am here to receive it. But I ask you 
in the name of mercy to be quick. I was never before 
so much overpowered that I could not hold up my 
head a minute.’’ 

Before Harry could speak another figure rose. 

“Yes, Harry, be quick if you can, and let us go 
back to sleep,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. 
Hilaire in a pleading voice. 

“Thank God I’ve found you both. I have no mes- 
sage for you. I was merely looking to see if all of 
you were alive.” 

“You’ve always had a kind heart, Harry,” said 
Colonel Talbot, “and we can’t tell you how much we 
appreciate what you’ve done.” 

“Are St. Clair and Happy Tom here?” 

“I cannot tell you. We suffered from such tre- 
mendous exhaustion that our men fell upon the grass, 
we with them, and all of us sank into stupor. But, 


342 


GETTYSBURG 


Harry, they must be here! We couldn’t have lost 
those boys! Why, I can’t think of them as not 
living I” 

‘‘If you’ll let me make a suggestion, lie down and 
go to sleep again,” said Harry. “I’ll find ’em.” 

The two colonels stretched a little, as if they were 
about to rise and go with him, but the effort was 
beyond their powers. They sank back and returned 
to sleep. Harry went on, his heart full of fear for the 
two young friends who were so dear to him. 

The survivors of the Invincibles lay in all sorts of 
positions, some on their backs, some on their sides, 
some on their faces, and others doubled up like little 
children. It was hard to recognize those dark figures, 
but he came at last to one in a lieutenant’s uniform, 
and he was sure that it was Langdon. He was afraid 
at first that he was dead, but he put his hand on his 
shoulder and shook it. 

There was no response, but Harry felt the warmth 
of the body pass through the cloth to his hand, and 
he knew that Langdon was living. He shook him 
again. 

Happy opened his eyes slowly and regarded Harry 
with a long stare. 

“Are you a ghost ?” he asked solemnly. 

“No, I was never more alive than I am now.” 

“I don’t believe you, Harry. You’re a ghost and 
so am I. Look at the dead men lying all around us. 
We’re just the first up. Why, Harry, nobody could 
go through the crater of an active volcano, as we’ve 
done, and live. I was either burned to death or shot 


343 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


to death with a bullet or blown to pieces with a shell. 
I don’t know which, but it doesn’t matter. What kind 
of a country is this, Harry, into which we’ve been 
resurrected ?” 

“Stop your foolishness. Happy. You’re alive, all 
right, although you may not be to-morrow night. The 
whole Army of the Potomac is coming up and there’s 
going to be another great battle.” 

“Then it’s just as well that I’m alive, because Gen- 
eral Lee will need me. But, Harry, don’t you think 
I’ve answered enough questions and that I’ve been 
awake long enough? Harry, remember that I’m your 
friend and comrade, almost your brother, and let me 
go back to sleep.” 

“Where is St. Clair? Was he killed?” 

“No. A million shells burst over both of us, but 
we escaped them all. But Arthur will be dead to the 
world for a while, just the same. His is the fourth 
figure beyond me, but you couldn’t wake him if you 
fired a cannon at his ear, and in two minutes you 
won’t be able to wake me with another cannon.” 

Happy’s head fell back as he spoke, and in less than 
half the time he gave he had joined the band of the 
original seven sleepers. Harry, stepping lightly over 
the slumbering figures — he had left his horse on the 
hill — went back to the staff, where he saw that many 
were yet watching. At the urgent advice of an older 
officer he stretched himself between two blankets to 
protect his body from dew and slept a little before 
dawn. He, too, had felt the exhaustion shown by the 
Invincibles, but his nervous system was keyed highly. 


344 


GETTYSBURG 


too high, in fact, to sleep long. Moreover, he seemed 
to find some new reserve of strength, and when Dal- 
ton put his hand upon his shoulder he sprang to his 
feet, eager and active. Dalton had not been sent on 
many errands the night before, and, sleeping longer 
than Harry, he had been up a half hour earlier. 

'‘You’ll find coffee and food for the staff back a 
little,” said Dalton, “and I’d advise you to take break- 
fast, Harry.” 

“I will. What’s going on ?” 

“Nothing, except the rising of the sun. See it, 
Harry, just coming over the edge of the horizon be- 
hind those two queer hills.” 

The rim of the eastern sky was reddening fast, and 
Round Top and Little Round Top stood out against 
it, black and exaggerated. They were raised in the 
dawn, yet dim, to twice their height, and rose like 
gigantic towers. 

But there was light enough already for Harry to 
see masses of men on the opposing slopes, and stone 
fences running along the hillsides, some of which had 
been thrown up in the night by soldiers. 

“I take it that the whole Army of the Potomac is 
here,” he said. 

“So our scouts tell us,” replied Dalton. “Our 
forces are gathered, too, except the six thousand in- 
fantry under Pickett and McLaws and the cavalry 
under Stuart. But they’ll come.” 

Harry and Dalton ate breakfast quickly, and, hur- 
rying back, stood near their chief, ready for any 
service. All the Southern forces were in line. Heth 


345 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


held the right, Pender the left, and Anderson, Hood, 
and McLaws and the others were stationed between. 
The brilliant sun moved slowly on and flooded the 
town, the hills and the battlefield of the day before 
with light. The officers of either side with their pow- 
erful glasses could plainly see the hostile troops. 
Harry had glasses of his own, and he looked a long 
time. But he saw little movement in the hostile ranks. 
Meade and Hancock and the others had worked hard 
in the hours of darkness and the Army of the Potomac 
was ready. 

Harry expected to hear the patter of rifles. Surely 
the battle would open at once. But there was no 
sound of strife. It seemed instead that a great 
silence had settled over the two armies and all between. 
Perhaps each was waiting for the other to make the 
first cast of the dice. 

Harry studied Lee’s face, but he could read noth- 
ing there. Like Jackson he had the power of dis- 
missing all expression. He wore a splendid new uni- 
form which had recently been sent to him by the de- 
voted people of Virginia, and with his height and 
majestic figure, his presence had never seemed more 
magnificent than on that morning. It was usually he 
who opened the battle, never waiting for the enemy, 
but as yet he gave no order. 

Longstreet, Hill and Hood presently joined Lee, 
and the four walked a little higher up the ridge, where 
they examined the Northern army for a long time 
through their glasses. Lee must have recognized the 
strength of that position, the formidable ridges, the 

346 


GETTYSBURG 


stone walls bristling with batteries, all crowned with 
an army of veterans more numerous than his own, 
and, even when Stuart and Pickett should come, more 
numerous yet by fifteen thousand men. But his army, 
with the habit of victory, was eager for battle, sure 
that it could win, despite the numbers and position of 
the enemy. 

The generals came back, but Lee said little. Harry 
often wished that he could have penetrated the mind 
of the great commander that morning, a mind upon 
which so much hung and which must have been as- 
sailed by doubts and fears, despite the impenetrable 
mask of his face. But he did not yet give any orders 
to attack, and Harry and Dalton, who had nothing to 
do but look on, were amazed. There was the Army 
of the Potomac waiting, and it was not Lee’s habit to 
let it wait. 

Slow though the sun was, it was now far up the 
blue arch and the day was intensely hot. The golden 
beams poured down and everything seemed to leap 
out into the light. Harry clearly saw the Northern 
cannon and novr and then he saw an officer moving 
about. But the men in blue were mostly still, lying 
upon their arms. The troops of his own army were 
quiet also, and they, too, were lying down. 

It suddenly occurrred to Harry that no more fitting 
field for a great and decisive battle could have been 
chosen. It was like a vast arena, enclosed by the 
somber hills and the two Round Tops, on both of 
which flew the flags of the Union signalmen. 

Yet the day drew on. The two armies of nearly 


347 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


two hundred thousand men merely sat and stared at 
each other. Noon passed and the afternoon advanced. 
Harry yet wondered, as many another did. But it 
was not for him to criticize. They were led by a man 
of genius, and the great mind must be working, seek- 
ing the best way. 

He and Dalton and some others lay down on the 
grass, while the heavy silence still endured. Not a 
single cannon shot had been fired all that day, and 
soon the sun would begin its decline from the zenith. 

‘T think I’ll go to sleep,” said Dalton. 

‘‘You couldn’t if you tried,” said Harry, “and you 
know it. If General Lee is waiting, it’s because he 
has good reasons for waiting, and you know that, too.” 

“You’re right in both instances, Harry. I could 
never shut my eyes on a scene like this, and, late as it 
grows, there will yet be a battle to-day. Weren’t 
some orders sent along the line a little while ago?” 

“Yes, the older men took ’em. What time is it, 
George ?” 

“Four o’clock.” Then he closed his watch with a 
snap, and added: 

“The battle has begun.” 

The heavy report of a cannon came from the South- 
ern right under Longstreet. It sped up the valleys 
and returned in sinister echoes. It was succeeded by 
silence for a moment, and then the whole earth shook 
beneath a mighty shock. All the batteries along the 
Southern line opened, pouring a tremendous volume 
of fire upon the whole Northern position. 

The young officers leaped to their feet. A volcano 

348 


GETTYSBURG 


had burst. The Union batteries were replying, and 
the front of both armies blazed with fire. The smoke 
hung high and Harry and Dalton could see in the 
valley beneath it. They caught the gleam of bayonets 
and saw the troops of Longstreet advancing in heavy 
masses to the assault of the slope where the peach 
trees grew, now known as the Peach Orchard. Here 
stood the New Yorkers who had been thrust forward 
under Sickles, a rough politician, but brave and in 
many respects capable. There was some confusion 
among them as they awaited the Confederates, Sickles, 
it is charged, having gone too far in his zeal, and then 
endeavoring to fall back when it was too late. But 
the men under him were firm. On this field the two 
great states of New York and Pennsylvania, through 
the number of troops they furnished for it, bore the 
brunt of the battle. 

Harry and Dalton, crouched down in order that 
they might see better under the smoke, watched the 
thrilling and terrible spectacle. The Southern vanguard 
was made up of Texans, tall, strong, tanned men, led 
by the impetuous Hood, and shouting the fierce South- 
ern war cry they rushed straight at the corps of 
Sickles. The artillery and rifle fire swept through 
their ranks, but they did not falter. Many fell, but 
the others rushed on, and Harry, although unconscious 
of it, began to shout as he saw them cross a little 
stream and charge with all their might against the 
enemy. 

The combat was stubborn and furious. The men 
of Sickles redoubled their efforts. At some points 


349 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


their line was driven in and the Texans sought to 
take their artillery, but at others they held fast and 
even threatened the Southern flank. They knew, too, 
that reinforcements were promised to them and they 
encouraged one another by saying they were already 
in sight. 

Harry could not turn his eyes away from this 
struggle, much of which was hidden in the smoke, 
and all of which was confused. The cannon of Hill 
and Ewell were thundering elsewhere, but here was 
the crucial point. The Round Tops rose on one side 
of the combatants. Round Top itself seemed too lofty 
and steep for troops, but Little Round Top, accessible 
to both men and cannon, would dominate the field, 
and he believed that Hood, as soon as his men crushed 
Sickles, would whirl about and seize it. But he could 
not yet tell whether fortune favored the Blue or the 
Gray. 

The generals from both sides watched the struggle 
with intense anxiety and hurried forward fresh troops. 
Woods and rocks and slopes helped the defense, but 
the attack was made with superior numbers. Long- 
street himself was directing the action and a part of 
Hill’s men were coming up to his aid. Sedgwick and 
Sykes, able generals, were rushing to help Sickles. 
The whole combat was beginning to concentrate about 
the furious struggle for the Peach Orchard and Little 
Round Top. 

Hood, in all the height of the struggle, saw the 
value of Little Round Top and tried his utmost to 
seize it Again the Northern generals were to show 


350 


GETTYSBURG 


that they had learned how to see what should be done 
and to do it at once. Little Round Top rose up, domi- 
nant over the whole field, a prize of value beyond all 
computation. Just then it was the most valuable hill 
in all the world. 

A Northern general, Warren, the chief engineer of 
the army, had seen the value of Little Round Top as 
quickly as Hood. The signalmen were about to leave, 
but he made them stay. An entire brigade, hurrying 
to the battle, was passing the slope, when Warren 
literally seized upon them by force of command and 
rushed the men and their cannon to the crest. 

Hood’s soldiers were already climbing the slopes, 
when the fire of the brigade, shell and bullets, struck 
almost in their faces. Harry, watching through his 
glasses, saw them reel back and then go on again, 
firing their own rifles as they climbed over the rocky 
sides of Little Round Top. Again that fierce volley 
assailed them, crashing through their ranks, and 
again they went on into the flame and the smoke. 

Harry saw the battle raging around the crest of 
Little Round Top. Then he uttered a cry of despair. 
The Southerners, with their ranks thin — wofully thin 
— were falling back slowly and sullenly. They had 
done all that soldiers could do, but the commanding 
towers of Little Round Top remained in Union hands, 
and the Union generals were soon crowding it v/ith 
artillery that could sweep every point in the field below. 

But Sickles himself was not faring so well. His 
men, fighting for every inch of ground about the 
Peach Orchard, were slowly driven back. Sickles him- 


351 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


self fell, a leg shattered, and walked on one leg for 
more than fifty years afterwards. Hood, his imme- 
diate opponent, also fell, losing an arm then and a leg 
later at Chickamauga, but Longstreet still pushed 
the attack, and the Northern generals who had stood 
around Sickles resisted with the stubbornness of men 
who meant to succeed or die. 

Early in the battle Harry had seen General Lee 
walk forward to a point in the center of his line and 
sit down on a smooth stump. There he sat a long 
time, apparently impassive. Harry sometimes took \ 
his eyes away from the combat for the Peach Orchard i 
and Little Round Top to watch his commander-in- i 
chief. But the general never showed emotion. Now ' 
and then General Hill or his military secretary, Gen- i 
eral Long, came to him and they would talk a little j 
together, but they made no gestures. Lee would rise | 
when the generals came, but when they left he would 
resume his place on the stump and watch the struggle j 
through his glasses. Throughout the whole battle of ' 
that day he sent a single order and received but one s 
message. He had given his orders before the ad- ' 
vance, and he left the rest to his lieutenants. 

‘T wish I could be as calm as he is,” said Harry. , 

“Til risk saying that he isn’t calm inside,” said 
Dalton. *‘How could any man be at such a time?” 

‘‘You’re right. Duck! Here comes a shell!” 

But the shell fell short and exploded on the slope. 

“Now listen, will you !” exclaimed Harry. “That’s 
the spirit!” 

Immediately after the shell burst a Southern band 

352 


GETTYSBURG 


began to play. And it played the merriest music, 
waltzes and polkas and all kinds of dances. Harry 
felt his feet move to the tunes, while the battle below, 
at its very height, roared and thundered. 

But he promptly forgot the musicians as he v/atched 
the battle. He knew that the Invincibles were some- 
where in that volcano of fire and smoke, and it was 
almost too much to hope that they would again come 
unhurt out of such a furious conflict. But they, too, 
passed quickly from his mind. The struggle would 
let nothing else remain there long. 

He saw that the Union troops were still in the 
Peach Orchard and that they were pouring a deadly 
fire also from Little Round Top. Hancock had come 
to take the place of Sickles, and he was drawing 
every man he could to his support. The afternoon 
was waning, but the battle was still at its height. 
Men were falling by thousands, and generals, colonels, 
majors, officers of all kinds were falling with them. 
The Southerners had not encountered such resistance 
in any other great battle, and the ground, moreover, 
was against them. 

Yet the grim fighter, Longstreet, never ceased to 
push on’ his brigades. The combat was now often face 
to face, and sharpshooters, hidden in every angle and 
hollow of the earth, picked off men by hundreds. The 
great rocky mass known as the Devil’s Den was filled 
with Northern sharpshooters and for a long time they 
stung the Southern flank terribly, until a Southern 
battery, noticing whence the deadly stream of bullets 
issued, sprayed it with grape and canister until most 


353 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


of the sharpshooters were killed, while those who sur- 
vived fled like wolves from their lairs. 

The day was now passing, but Harry could see no 
decrease in the fury of the battle. Longstreet was 
still hurling his men forward, and they were met with 
cannon and rifle and bayonet. The Confederate line 
now grew more compact. The brigades were brought 
into closer touch, and, gathering their strength anew, 
they rushed forward in a charge, heavier and more 
desperate than any that had gone before. Generals 
and colonels led them in person. Barksdale, young, 
but with snow-white hair, was riding at the very 
front of the line, and he fell, dying, in the Union ranks. 

The Southern charge was stopped again on the left 
wing of the Union army, and with the coming of 
the night the battle there sank, but elsewhere the 
South was meeting with greater success. Ewell, mak- 
ing a renewed and fierce attack at sunset, drove in the 
Northern right, and, seconded by Early, took their 
defenses there. But the darkness was coming fast, 
and although the firing went on for a long time, it 
ceased at last, with the two enemies still face to face 
and the battle drawn. 

Harry, who had expected to see a glorious victory 
won by the setting of the sun, w^as deeply depressed. 
His youth did not keep him from seeing that very 
little advantage had been won in that awful conflict 
of the afternoon, and he saw also that the Army of 
the Potomac had been fighting as if it had been in - 
proved by defeat. Nor had Lee thrown in his whole 
force where it was needed most. If Jackson had only 


354 


GETTYSBURG 


been there ! Harry pictured his swift flank movement, 
his lightning stroke, and the crumpling up of the 
enemy. Jackson loomed larger than ever now to his 
disappointed and excited mind. 

Harry had been all day long and far into the night 
on Seminary Hill. Often he had scarcely moved for 
an hour, and now, when the firing ceased and he stood 
up and tried to peer into the valley of death, he found 
his limbs so stiff for a minute or two that he could 
scarcely move. His eyes ached and his throat was 
raw from smoke and the fumes of burned gunpowder. 
But as he shook himself and stretched his muscles, he 
regained firmness of both mind and body. 

‘‘We didn’t win much,” he said to Dalton. 

“Not to-day, but we will to-morrow. Harry, 
wasn’t it awful? It looks to me down there like a pit 
of destruction.” 

And Dalton described it truly. The losses of the 
day before had been doubled. Thirty thousand men 
on the two sides had now fallen, and there was another 
day to come. 

Harry saw that the generals themselves were as- 
sailed by doubts and fears. He with other young 
staff officers witnessed the council of Lee and his 
leading officers in the moonlight on Seminary Ridge. 
Some spoke of retreat. A drawn battle in the enemy’s 
country, and with an inferiority of numbers, was for 
them equivalent to a defeat. Others pointed out, how- 
-rever, that while their losses had been enormous, the 
courage and spirit of the Army of Northern Virginia 
were unshaken. Stuart with the cavalry, expected 


355 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


earlier, would certainly be up soon, and, after all, the 
day had not been without its gains. Longstreet held 
the Peach Orchard and Ewell was in the Union de- 
fenses on the flank of Gettysburg. 

But Lee thought most of the troops. These ragged 
veterans of his who had been invincible asked to be 
led once more against the enemy. A spirit so high as 
theirs could not be denied. His decision was given. 
They would stay and smash the Union army on the 
morrow. 

Harry heard of the decision. He had never doubted 
that it would be so. They must surely win the next 
day with the addition of Pickett’s men and Stuart’s 
cavalry. He wondered why Stuart had not come up 
already, but he learned the next morning that a good 
reason had held him back. 

The Union cavalry, always vigilant now, had inter- 
cepted Stuart in the afternoon and had given him 
battle, just when the combat of the second day had 
begun at Gettysburg. Gregg led the horsemen in blue 
and there was another combat like that at Brandy 
Station, now about five thousand sabres on a side. 
There was a long and desperate struggle in which 
neither force could win, young Custer in particular 
showing uncommon skill and courage for the North, 
while Wade Hampton performed prodigies for the 
South. At last they drew off by mutual consent, 
Gregg into the forest, while Stuart, with his reduced 
force, rode on in the night to Lee. But Gregg in hold- 
ing back Stuart had struck the Southern army a great 
blow. 


356 


GETTYSBURG 


Harry and Dalton with nothing to do received per- 
mission to go among the soldiers, and as they marked 
their spirits, their own rose. Then they passed down 
toward the battlefield. Harry had some idea that 
they might again find the Invincibles, as they had 
found them the night before, but their time was too 
short. The Invincibles were somewhere in the front, 
he learned, and, disappointed, he and Dalton turned 
back into the valley. 

The night was clear and bright, and they saw many 
men coming and going from a cold spring under the 
shadow of the trees. Some of them were wounded 
and limped painfully. Others carried away water in 
their hats and caps for comrades too badly wounded to 
move. Harry observed that some wore the blue, and 
some the gray. Both he and Dalton were assailed by 
a burning thirst at the sight of the water, and they 
went to the spring. 

Here men who an hour or two ago had been striving 
their utmost to kill one another were gathered together 
and spoke as friends. When one went away another 
took his place. No thought of strife occurred to them, 
although there would be plenty of it on the morrow. 
They even jested and foes complimented foes on their 
courage. Harry and Dalton drank, and paused a few 
moments to hear the talk. 

The moon rode high, and it has looked down upon 
no more extraordinary scene than this, the enemies 
drinking together in friendship at the spring, and all 
about them the stony ramparts of the hills, bristling 
with cannon, and covered with riflemen, ready for a 


357 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


red dawn, and the fields and ridges on which thirty 
thousand had already fallen, dead or wounded. 

“Another meeting, Mr. Kenton,” said a man who 
had been bent down drinking. As he rose the moonlight 
shone full upon his face and Harry was startled. And 
yet it was not strange that he should be there. The 
face revealed to Harry was one of uncommon power. 
It seemed to him that the features had grown more 
massive. The powerful chin and the large, slightly 
curved nose showed indomitable spirit and resolution. 
The face was tanned almost to blackness by all kinds 
of weather. Harry would not have known him at first, 
had it not been for his voice. 

“We do meet in unexpected places and at unexpected 
times, Mr. Shepard,” he said. 

“I’m not merely trying to be polite, when I tell you 
that I’m glad to find you alive. You and I have seen 
battles, but never another like this.” 

“And I can truthfully welcome you, Mr. Shepard, 
as an old acquaintance and no real enemy.” 

It was an impulse but a noble one that made the two, 
different in years and so unlike, shake hands with a 
firm and honest grip. 

“Your army will come again in the morning,” said 
Shepard, not as a question, but as a statement of fact. 

“Can you doubt it?” 

“No, I don’t, but to-morrow night, Mr. Kenton, you 
will recall what I told you at our first meeting in 
Montgomery more than two years ago. 

“You said that we could not win.” 

“And you cannot. It was never possible. Oh, I 

358 


GETTYSBURG 


know that you’ve won great victories against odds! 
You’ve done better than anybody could have expected, 
but you had genius to help you, while we were led 
by mediocrity in the saddle. But you have reached 
your zenith. Mark how the Union veterans fought to- 
day. They’re as brave and resolute as you are, and 
we have the position and the men. You’ll never get 
beyond Gettysburg. You invasion is over. Hereafter 
you fight always on the defensive.” 

Harry was startled by his emphasis. The man spoke 
like an inspired prophet of old. His eyes sparkled 
like coals of fire in the dark, tanned face. The boy 
had never before seen him show so much emotion, 
and his heart sank at the appalling prophecy. Then 
his courage came back. 

‘‘You predict as you hope, Mr. Shepard,” he said. 

Shepard laughed a little, though not with mirth, and 
said : 

“It is well that it should be settled here. There will 
be death on a greater scale than any the war has yet 
seen, but it will have to come sooner or later, and why 
not at Gettysburg? Good-bye, I go back to the 
heights. May we both be alive to-morrow night to see 
which is right.” 

“The wish is mine, too,” said Harry sincerely. 

Shepard turned away and disappeared in the dark- 
ness. Harry rejoined Dalton who was on the other 
side of the spring, and the two returned to Seminary 
Ridge, where they walked among sleeping thousands. 
They found their way to their comrades of the staff, 
and their physical powers collapsing at last they fell 


359 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


on the ground where they soon sank into a heavy sleep. 

The great silence came again. Sentinels walked back 
and forth along the hostile lines, but they made no 
noise. There was little moving of brigades or cannon 
now. The town itself became a town of phantom 
houses in the moonlight, nearly all of them still and 
deserted. On all the slopes of the hostile ridges lay the 
sleeping soldiers, and on the rocks and fields between 
lay the dead in thousands. But from the crest of Little 
Round Top, the precious hill so hardly won, the Union 
officers watched all through the night, and, now and 
then, they went through the batteries for which they 
were sure they w^re going to have great use. 

Harry and Dalton awoke at the same time. Another 
day, hot and burning, had come, and the two armies 
once more looked across the valley at each other. 
Harry soon heard the booming of cannon off to his 
right, where Ewell’s corps stood. It came from the 
Northern guns and for a long time those of the South 
did not answer. But after a while Harry’s practiced ear 
detected the reply. The hostile wings facing each other 
were engaged in a fierce battle. He saw the flash of 
the guns and the rising smoke, but the center of the 
Army of Northern Virginia and the other wing did 
not yet move. He looked questioningly at Dalton and 
Dalton looked questioningly at him. 

They expected every instant that the combat would 
spread along the entire front, but it did not. For 
several hours they listened to the thunder of the guns 
on the left, and then they knew by the movement of 
the sound that the Southern wing had been driven 

360 


GETTYSBURG 


back, not far it is true, but still it had been compelled 
to yield, and again Harry’s heart sank. 

But it rose once more when he concluded that Lee 
must be massing his forces in the center. The left 
wing had been allowed to fight against overwhelming 
numbers in order that the rest of the army might 
be left free to strike a crushing blow. 

Then noon came and the battle on their left died 
completely. Once more the great silence held the field 
and Harry was mystified and awed. Lee, as calm and 
impassive as ever, said little. The ridges confronted 
one another, bristling with cannon but the armies 
were motionless. The day was hotter than either of 
those that had gone before. The sun, huge and red, 
poised in the heavens, shot down fiery rays in millions. 
Harry gasped for breath, and when at last he spoke in 
the stillness his voice sounded loud and harsh in his 
own ears. 

“What does it mean, George ?” he said. 

“I don’t know, but I think they are massing behind 
us for a charge.” 

“Not against the sixty or seventy thousand men and 
the scores of cannon on those heights?” 

“Maybe not yet. It’s likely there will be a heavy 
artillery fire first. Yes, I’m right! There go the 
guns I” 

One cannon shot was followed by many others, and 
then for a while a tremendous cannonade raged along 
the front of the armies, but it too died, the smoke 
lifted, and then came the breathless, burning heat 
again. 


361 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


The fire of the sun and of the battle entered Harry’s 
brain. The valley, the town, the hills, the armies, 
everthing swam in a red glare. The great pulses 
leaped in his throat. He was anxious for them to go 
on, and get it over. Why were the generals lingering 
when there was a battle to be finished? Half the day 
was gone already and nothing was decided. 

Conscious that he was about to lose control of him- 
self he clasped his hands to his temples and pressed 
them tightly. At the same time he made a mighty 
effort of the will. The millions of black specks that 
had been dancing before his eyes went away. The 
solid earth ceased to quiver and settled back into its 
place, careless of the armies that trampled over it. 
Again he clearly saw through his glasses the long lines 
of men in blue along the slopes and on the crest of 
Cemetery Hill. He marked, too, there, at the highest 
point, a clump of trees waving their summer green in 
the hot sunshine. Turning his glasses yet further he 
saw the massed artillery on Little Round Top, and the 
gunners leaning on their guns. A house, set on fire 
purposely or by shells, was burning brightly, like some 
huge torch to light the way to death. 

“You told me they were preparing for a charge,” 
he said to Dalton. 

“So they are, Harry. Pickett’s men, who have not 
been here long, are forming up in the rear, but their 
advance will be preceded by a cannonade. You can see 
them wheeling guns into line.” 

Lee, with Hill and Longstreet, had recently ridden 
along the lines followed by the older staff officers, and 


GETTYSBURG 


often shells and the bullets of sharpshooters had struck 
about them, but they remained unhurt. Now Lee 
stopped at one of his old points of observation. It was 
now about one o’clock in the afternoon, and as the 
last gun took its place the whole artillery of the 
Southern army opened with a fire so tremendous that 
Harry felt the earth trembling, and he was compelled 
to put his fingers in his ears lest he be deafened. 

A storm of metal flew across the valley toward the 
Northern ranks, but the guns there did not reply yet. 
The Union troops lay close behind their intrenchments 
and mostly the storm beat itself to pieces on the side of 
the hill. The smoke soon became so great that Harry 
could not tell even with glasses what was going on in 
the enemy’s ranks, but he inferred from the fact that 
they were not yet replying that they were not suffering 
much. 

But in a quarter of an hour the tremendous cannon- 
ade was suddenly doubled in volume. The Union 
guns were now answering. Two hundred cannon 
facing one another across the valley were fighting the 
most terrible artillery duel ever known in America. 
The air was filled with shells, shot, grape, shrapnel, 
canister and every form of deadly missile. 

Harry and Dalton sprang to cover, as some of the 
shells struck about them, but they stood up again when 
they saw that Lee was talking calmly with his generals. 

The Southern fire was accurate. General Meade’s 
headquarters were riddled. Many important officers 
were wounded, but the Northern gunners, superb al- 
ways, never flinched from their guns. They fell fast, 

363 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


but others took their places. Guns were dismounted 
but those in the reserve were brought up instead. 

The appalling tumult increased. The shells shrieked 
as they flew through the air in hundreds, and shrapnel 
and grape whined incessantly. Harry thought it in 
very truth the valley of destruction, and it was a relief 
to him when he received an order to carry and could 
turn away for a little while. He saw now in the rear 
the brigades of Pickett which were forming up for the 
charge, about four thousand five hundred men who had 
not yet been in the battle, while nearly ten thousand 
more, under Trimble, Pettigrew and Wilcox, were 
ready to march on their flanks. Pickett’s men were 
lying on their arms patiently waiting. The time had 
not quite come. 

When Harry came back from his errand the cannon- 
ade was still at its height. The roar was continuous, 
deafening, shaking the earth all the time. . A light 
wind blew the smoke back on the Southern position, 
but it helped, concealing their batteries to a certain 
extent, while those of the North remained uncovered. 

The Northern army was now suffering terribly, 
although its infantry stood unflinching under the fire. 
But the South was suffering too. Guns were shattered, 
and the deadly rain of missiles carried destruction into 
the waiting regiments. Harry saw Lee and Longstreet 
continually under the Union fire. They visited the bat- 
teries and encouraged the men. Showers of shells 
struck around them, but they went on unharmed. 
Wherever Lee appeared the tremendous cheering could 
be heard amid the roar of the guns. 

364 


GETTYSBURG 


Now the Southern artillerymen saw that their am- 
munition was diminishing fast. Such a furious and 
rapid fire could not be carried on much longer, and 
Lee sent the word to Pickett to charge. Harry stood 
by when the men of Pickett arose — but not all of 
them. Some had been struck by the shells as they lay 
on the ground and had died in silence, but their com- 
rades marched out in splendid array, and a vast shout 
arose from the Southern army as they strove straight 
into the valley of death. 

Harry shouted with the rest. He was wild with ex- 
citement. Every nerve in him tingled, and once more 
the black specks danced before his eyes in myriads. 
Peace or war ! Right or wrong ! He was always glad 
that he saw Pickett’s charge, the charge that dimmed 
all other charges in history, the most magnificent 
proof of man’s courage and ability to walk straight 
into the jaws of death. 

The dauntless Virginians marched out in even array, 
stepping steadily as if they were on parade, instead of 
aiming straight at the center of the Union army, where 
fifty thousand riflemen and a hundred guns were 
awaiting them. Their generals and those of the sup- 
porting divisions rode on their flanks or at their head. 
Besides Pickett, Garnett, Wilcox, Armistead, Petti- 
grew and Trimble were there. 

The Southern cannon were firing over the heads of 
the marching Virginians, covering them with their 
fire, but the light breeze strengthened a little, driving 
away the smoke. There they were in the valley, vis- 
ible to both friend and foe, marching on that long mile 

365 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


from hill to hill. The Southern army shouted again, 
and it is true that, at this moment, the Union ranks 
burst into a like cry of admiration, at the sight of a 
foe so daring, men of their own race and country. 

But Harry never took his eyes for a moment from 
Pickett’s column. He was using his glasses, and 
everything stood out strong and clear. The sun was 
at the zenith, pouring down rays so fiery that the whole 
held blazed in light. The nature of the ground caused 
the Virginians to turn a little, in order to keep the line 
for the Union center, but they preserved their even 
ranks, and marched on at a steady pace. 

Harry began to shout again, but in an instant or two 
he saw a line of hre pass along the Union front. Forty 
guns together opened upon the charging column, and 
Hancock at the Union center, seeing and understand- 
ing the danger, was heaping up men and cannon to 
meet it. 

The shells began to crash into the ranks of the Vir- 
ginians and the ten thousand on their flanks. Men fell 
in hundreds and now the batteries on Little Round Top 
added to the storm of fire. The clouds of smoke 
gathered again, but the wind presently scattered them 
and Harry, waiting in agony, saw Pickett’s division 
marching straight ahead, never faltering. 

But he groaned when he saw that there was trouble 
on the flanks. The men of Pettigrew, exhausted by the 
great efforts they had already made in the battle, wav- 
ered and lost ground. Another division was driven 
back by a heavy flank attack. Others were lost in the 
vast banks of smoke that at times filled the valley. Only 

366 


GETTYSBURG 


the Virginians kept unbroken ranks and a straight 
course for the Union center. 

Pickett paused a few moments at the burning house 
for the others to get in touch with him, but they could 
not do so, and he marched on, with Cemetery Hill 
now only two hundred yards away. The covering fire 
of the Southern cannon had ceased long since. It 
would have been as dangerous now to friend as to foe. 
Harry, watching through his glasses, uttered another 
cry. Pickett and his men were marching alone at the 
hill. Half of them it seemed to him were gone already, 
but the other half never paused. The fire of a hundred 
guns had been poured upon them, as they advanced that 
deadly mile, but with ranks still even they rushed 
straight at their mark, the Union center. 

Then Harry saw all the slopes and the crest of 
Cemetery Hill blaze with fire. The Virginians were 
near enough for the rifles now, and the bullets came 
in sheets. Harry saw it, and he groaned aloud. He 
no longer had any hope for those brave men. The 
charge could not succeed ! 

Yet he saw them rush into the Union ranks and 
disappear. A group in gray, still cleaving through the 
multitude, reappeared far up the slope, and then burst, 
a little band of a few dozen men, into the very heart of 
the Union center, the point to which they had been 
sent. 

A battle raged for a few minutes under the clump 
of trees where Hancock had stood directing. There 
Armistead, who had led them, his hat on the point of 
his sword, fell dead among the Northern guns, and 

367 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


Cushing, his brave foe who commanded the battery, 
died beside him. All the others fell quickly or were 
taken. A few hundreds on the slopes cut their way 
back through the Union army and reached their own. 
Pickett, preserved by some miracle, was among them. 

Harry gasped and threw down his glasses. Now he 
knew that the words Shepard had spoken to him the 
night before at the spring were true. The Southern 
invasion had been rolled back forever. 

He looked at General Lee, who on foot had been 
watching the charge. The impenetrable mask was gone 
for a moment, and his face expressed deep emotion. 
Then the great soul reasserted itself and mounting his 
horse went forward to meet the fugitives and en- 
courage them. He rode back and forth among them, 
and Harry heard him say once : 

^‘All will come right in the end. We’ll talk it over 
afterward, but meanwhile every good man must rally. 
We want all good and true men just now.” 

His manner was that of a father to his children, and, 
though they had failed, the spontaneous cheers again 
burst forth wherever he passed. The wounded as 
they were carried to the rear raised themselves up to 
see him, and their cheers were added to the others. 

Harry never forgot anything that he saw or heard 
then. Although the battle, in effect, was over, the 
Northern artillery, roaring and thundering triumph- 
antly, was sending its shells across the valley and upon 
Seminary Ridge. But he did not think anything of 
them, even when they struck near him. It would be 
days before he could feel fear again. He heard Lee 

368 


GETTYSBURG 


say to an officer who rode up, and stated, between sob- 
bing breaths, that his whole brigade was destroyed : 

“Never mind. General. All this has been my fault. 
It is I who have lost this fight, and you must help me 
out of it in the best way you can.” 

To another he said : 

“This has been a sad day for us, a sad day. But we 
can't expect always to gain victories.” 

Beholding such greatness of soul, Harry regained 
his own composure. He rejoined Dalton, and soon 
they saw the Southern army reform its lines, and turn 
a bristling front to the enemy. The Northern cannon 
were still flashing and thundering, but the Northern 
army made no return attack. Gettysburg, in all re- 
spects the greatest battle ever fought on the American 
continent, was over, and fifty thousand men had fallen. 

The sun set, and Harry at last sank on the ground 
overpowered. The next day the two armies stood on 
their hills looking at each other, but neither cared to 
renew the battle after such frightful losses. That 
afternoon a fearful storm of thunder, lightning and 
rain burst over the field. It seemed to Harry an echo 
of the real battle of the day before. 

That night Lee, having gathered up his wounded, 
his guns and his wagons, began his retreat toward the 
South. His army had lost, but it was still in perfect 
order, willing, even anxious to fight again. The 
wagons containing the wounded and the stores 
stretched for many miles, moving along in the rain, 
and the cavalry rode on their flanks to protect them. 

It was not until the next morning that Harry dis- 

369 


THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG 


covered anything of the Invincibles. In the dawn he 
saw a covered wagon by the side of which rode an 
officer, much neater in appearance than the others. He 
knew at once that it was St. Clair and he galloped 
forward with a joyous shout. 

“Arthur! Arthur!” he cried. 

St. Clair turned a pale face that lighted up at the 
sight of his friend. 

“Thank God, you’re alive, Harry !” he said, as their 
hands clasped. 

“Are you alone left?” asked Harry. 

“Look into the wagon,” he said. 

Harry lifted a portion of the flap, and, looking in, 
saw Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel 
Hector St. Hilaire sitting on rolls of blankets facing ' 
each other. One had his right arm in a sling and the 
other the left, but the chessmen rested on a board be- 
tween them and they were playing intently. They • 
stopped a moment or two to give Harry a glad wel- ; 
come. Then he let the flap drop back. 

“They began at daylight,” said St. Clair. 

“Where’s Happy?” I 

“He’s in the wagon, too. He’s lying on some blank- ^ 
ets behind them.” | 

“Not hurt badly?” | 

“He was nipped in the shoulder, but it doesn’t I 
amount to anything. What he wanted was sleep and | 
he’s getting it. He told me not to wake him up again | 
for a month.” | 

“Well, Arthur, we lost.” I 

“Yes, and I don’t know just how it happened.” f 


370 


GETTYSBURG 


^‘But we’re here, ready to fight them again whenever 
they come.” 

“So we are, Harry, and if they ever reach Rich- 
mond it will be many a long day before they do it.” 

“I say so, too.” 

The great train toiled on through the mud, and the 
Army of Northern Virginia continued its slow march 
southward. 


THE END 


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